Vassilios Lakon

Vassilios Lakon
Born	1830 Kea, Greece
Died	1900(1900-00-00) (aged 68–69) Athens, Greece
Nationality	Greek
Alma mater	University of Athens Sorbonne
Known for	Lakon's Axioms
Spouse	Aspasia
Children	Kostas Karthaios George Lakon
Father	Ioannis Lakon
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy Physics Mathematics
Institutions	University of Athens
Doctoral advisors	Dimitrios Stroumpos Joseph Bertrand
Doctoral students	John Hazzidakis Cyparissos Stephanos

Vassilios Lakon (Greek: Βασίλειος Λάκων or Greek: Βασιλείου Ι Λάκωνος, 1831–1900) was an astronomer, mathematician, experimental physicist, philologist, author, and professor. He was a pioneer in 19th-century Greek geometry. He did research in the fields of physics and mathematics. His professors were world-renowned physicist Dimitrios Stroumpos and astronomer Georgios Konstantinos Vouris. He also studied in France with Joseph Bertrand. He was exposed to the works of Joseph Liouville, Augustin-Louis Cauchy, Bernard Lamy, and Jacques Charles François Sturm. Lakon's math textbooks were used in high schools across Greece during the second half of the 19th century.^[1][2][3]

Lakon was born on the island of Kea. He was from a prominent family. He was the first student to receive a doctorate degree in Mathematics from the University of Athens in 1850. He continued his post-doctoral studies in France. He returned to Greece. He introduced modern French mathematical concepts to Greek education. He was involved in high school and higher education. He spent the rest of his life teaching and writing science books. He participated in the scientific debates of the time. His axiomatic foundation expanded Euclid's Elements. He presented the idea of motion relative to geometry and discussed the rotation and placement of geometric figures on a plane and in space. He also contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and astronomy. His first son was the famous Greek poet Kostas Karthaios [el]. His other son George Lakon [de] was a botanist.^[4][5][6][7]