Pavel Florensky and his world

Abstract

This is an overview of the life and works of Pavel Florensky, an important and singular figure of the period rightly described as the \emph{Silver Age of Russian mathematics}, with a substantial overlap with the \emph{Silver Age of Russian literature, poetry and philosophy}. Florensky is certainly among the great scientists, philosophers, theologians and historians of art of the twentieth century, with a very atypical trajectory of life. He had a mathematical background and his work in philosophy, theology and history of art is imbued with mathematical ideas. Talking about his life and works is also an opportunity to reflect upon the Russian mathematical school of the first third of the twentieth century, its philosophical foundations and the conflicts it underwent. It is also an occasion for discussing poetry, literature and art during the Russian Silver Age. This article will appear as a chapter in the Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Mathematical Practice, edited by Bharath Sriraman, published by Springer, to appear in 2023.