In Memoriam: Michael Kapovich

...Заколюченные параллели
Преподали нам славный урок:
Не делить с подонками хлеба,
Перед властью не падать ниц,
И не верить ни в чистое небо,
Ни в улыбки сиятельных лиц....

With scoundrels, never break your bread, 
Before no power bow your head, 
And put no trust in shifting sand, 
Nor in the smiles of high and grand.

by poet Alexander Galich

Misha Kapovich was born on March 13, 1963 in Khabarovsk, in the far East of Russia (then a part of Soviet Union). His parents were Eri Kapovich and Maia Kapovich, both civil engineers. Despite often being sick as a child, Misha excelled in school. Misha was a straight A student and was good at everything, but his favourite subject from early on was mathematics, which became his vocation for the rest of his life. Misha graduated from the high school number 2 in Khabarovsk in 1986 with a gold medal, the highest distinction possible and the first in school history. 

Despite his academic excellence, because of the Fifth line (Пятая графа) in his passport Misha was prevented from going to the most prestigious universities in Soviet Union. Nevertheless, in 1980 he was admitted to the Novosibirsk State University, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1985. He received his Ph.D. at the Novosibirsk Institute of Mathematics after which he went back to Khabarovsk, where for 3 years he worked at the Institute for Applied Mathematics. Doing mathematics there was a challenge as, despite its name, the Institute didn’t have a mathematical library or easy access to mathematical publications.  This did not stop Misha. he wrote a number of important papers while in Khabarovsk which earned him international recognition and allowed him to leave Russia in 1991 for a one year visit to MSRI (Berkeley) and the University of Maryland. He never went back. 

From 1992 till 2003 Misha worked at the university of Utah in Salt lake City. While there, Misha took care of his father Eri, who lived with Misha from 1994 until his death in 1998.  In August 2002, Misha married Jennifer Schultens, also a mathematician. In 2003 Misha and Jennifer got positions at the UC Davis, where Misha remained until the end of his life. Misha’s and Jennifer’s daughter Esther, their only child, was born a few years after they arrived in Davis, in September 2008.

Misha had a distinguished and profoundly influential academic career with over a 100 research publications including several books. Perhaps the most well known is his 2000 book “Hyperbolic Manifolds and Discrete Groups" on the geometry of 3-manifolds, reprinted in 2009 in Birkhauser's series "Modern Classics."  Misha's 2017 book with Cornelia Drutu, "Geometric Group Theory," has also already become a classic. In 2006, Misha was an Invited Speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Madrid.

But Misha wasn't just good at math. He was kind, very generous with his friends and family, and had a wonderful sense of humor. His sharp wit often came through even in his math writings, which are as a rule extremely dry.

He possessed a rare combination of wisdom, generosity of spirit, and extraordinary steadfastness. I cherished his attention, his advice, and his unfailing willingness to help. He always found the right words, knew how to offer support in difficult times, and how to share in moments of joy. Simply knowing that Michael was in the world gave me strength and peace of mind.

Katia Kapovich, cousin

Over the years Misha had a number Ph.D. students, many of whom went on to have successful academic careers including Shinpei Baba, James Forehand, Yvonne Lai, Jaejeong Lee, Beibei Liu, Subhadip Dey, Gabriel Amos, Ezra Gouvea, Sonjong Hwang, Dustin Mayeda, and most recently Yukun Du. This will ensure that Misha’s mathematical tree (which he traced all the way back to Neilos Kabasilas in the 14th century) will continue forward.

Misha is survived by his wife, Jennifer, his daughter, Esther, his brothers Ilya and Vitali, and his first cousin Katia who was as close as a sister to him.  We will miss him dearly.