Why is that?īecause they don't accept Jewish students. And she says, did you know that you're not going to be accepted to Moscow University? I didn't know that. They kind of look - all averted their eyes. And people around me, they all looked at me like I was a terminally ill patient.
And she says, and your father? And my father is Jewish. And what's the nationality of your parents? I say, well, my mom is Russian. Why is she asking me this?Īnd I say, Russian because that's what's written in my passport. And what's your nationality? And I was a little started by this. She says, are you applying to Moscow University? And I said, yes I am. And she says, what's your name? I say, Edward Frenkel. I go to this office, and they direct me to this woman.
If you are applying to Moscow University, we'll give you some tips. And this letter came from a correspondence school, and it says come talk to us. The first warning shot came in the form of a letter. But it mostly covered freshman level-math, nothing Edward had to worry about.įRENKEL: And then, things take an unexpected turn. ROSENBERG: To get into Moscow State University, Edward would have to take a series of entrance exams. In Russia, at that time, there was only one school where one could pursue pure mathematics. ROSENBERG: Unlike other aspects of intellectual life in the Soviet Union, mathematics wasn't controlled by the government or the government's ideology.įRENKEL: And the only way to go farther and explore more was to become a professional mathematician. But around the age of 15, I fell in love with math. So it wasn't really center of any kind of intellectual activity.
JOE ROSENBERG, BYLINE: Edward Frenkel grew up in the 1980's in Russia just outside of Moscow.ĮDWARD FRENKEL: Well, in the former Soviet Union. But SNAP JUDGMENT producer Joe Rosenberg spoke to Edward Frenkel. Now like a lot of people, I hated math growing up, hated it. And today on the show, just because something shouldn't be done, doesn't mean we aren't going to do it. Welcome back to the SNAP, from PRX and NPR the "Lost Cause" episode.
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