Florin Nicolae Diacu

94 Responses

1. Dear Ms. Diacu,

   I am truly sorry and sad to hear of the loss of my distinguished supervisor. Please accept my sincere condolences and may his soul rest in peace. He was a wonderful person. He was always encouraging me to achieve the best in my study. I met him every week for one year. In every meeting he was asking about my family and my sons. He is very kind and friendly. Dr. Florin is an invaluable professor.

   Sawsan Alhowaity

2. Dear Mariana, I’m heartbroken to hear of Florin’s passing. While I only met him once briefly at your home, I felt like I got to know him through your stories. You are in my prayers. Much love, Kathy

3. Dear Marina–I’m so sorry to hear of Florin’s passing. During the brief time we had come to know each other at Yale-NUS I already considered Florin a dear friend, and I looked forward to many more years of friendship. Still, I know that he lived a life full of love, friendship, professional accomplishments, and courage in the face of adversity. His benevolent influence will reverberate forever throughout the lives of everyone whom he touched. — Bryan

4. Florin Diacu
   Summarized in a word: Charismatic

   I first became aware of Florin during those repressive days of the Ceausescu dictatorship when an editor asked me to review a paper submitted by a Romanian student who was extending earlier research of mine. First through professional correspondence and then, once it became possible, with face-to-face meetings was built a strong friendship.

   What a delightful person! Gifted with the ability to write not only for mathematicians but books for the general public, to deliver professional presentations that were entertaining.r and that made the complex understandable, combined with his adventurous intellect to explore and open new avenues of research, Florin made his strong mark. His main research interests centered on the notoriously difficult Newtonian N-body problem, where many try but few survive, and even fewer create new research directions, as Florin did with his insight to pose the gravitational equations on a variety of surfaces or examine “double humped” potentials.

   Yes, Florin will be remembered through his research and the directions that he opened. But, for those of us fortunate enough to know him, it is the man that we will remember. Ambitious, clever, a leader, friendly, outgoing, cheery, serious yet the life.of-the-party. A memory all will retain is Florin’s hallmark:
   his warm, broad, welcoming smile!
   Florin, you will be missed.
   Don Saari

5. Dear Marina,

   we feel very sad and shocked about Florin’s passing away. It is so early, so fast…

   We met him first time in Namur, Belgium in 1997 and since then we have seen him
   many times in many different places.

   We were always very impressed about Florin’s friendly attitude. We consider him as
   a brilliant mathematician and a wonderful communicator. He expressed his ideas
   and feelings with such a clarity that really admired us. He always had a kind word for
   everybody. We remember his warm welcome the first time we met. He did not go
   unnoticed anywhere. He was cheerful, had an entertaining and funny conversation.

   He was a great promoter writer of Mathematics and Celestial Mechanics, in particular.
   His books reflect his clarity of mind, his strength and now they are going to maintain
   his spirit forever, for the people who knew him to remember him and for the ones who
   did not meet him to have a feeling of his soul.

   But overall, he was a wonderful man, plenty of vitality and enthusiasm. Certainly we will
   miss him very deeply but now he is part of all of us forever.

   We think of you and your family at this sad time and send you our wish of hope and energy.

   A heartfelt embrace:

   Patricia and Jesús.

6. Cara Marina,
   con grande tristezza abbiamo appreso la dolorosa notizia della scomparsa così improvvisa del caro Florin.
   Lo ricordiamo per la sua affettuosa accoglienza riservata a Manuele e a noi quando Manuele ha iniziato il PhD a Victoria con Lui, suo indimenticabile maestro di scienza e di vita.

   Manuele lo considerava il suo riferimento, pieno di affettuosità e di consigli determinanti per la sua immissione nel mondo accademico.
   Inserimento reso possibile dal fascino coinvolgente che Florin sapeva trasmettere ai suoi allievi grazie alla sua bravura e alla sua innata originalità nel campo della ricerca scientifica che egli dominava.

   Noi ricordiamo Florin per l’affettuosa accoglienza riservataci a Victoria in alcune splendide e festose occasioni come quella del Natale nella vostra casa, del barbecue in giardino, della gita nel parco prospiciente l’oceano e presso il club degli accademici dell’UVIC.
   Egli era sempre allegro e festoso e comunicava a noi una grande gioia, come quando nella vostra gradita visita a Pisa ci avete regalato una lieta e indimenticabile giornata.

   Florin merita tutto il nostro affetto, l’ammirazione e la nostra incommensurabile riconoscenza!

   Florin è stata una grande persona, intellettualmente ed umanamente, un grande matematico, una persona che rimarrà sempre nei nostri cuori e nei nostri pensieri.
   Il mondo accademico perde un valoroso e importante scienziato e Florin sarà ricordato nel tempo per i suoi contributi e i grandi meriti ottenuti con il suo instancabile e entusiastico lavoro.

   La sua perdita ci ha grandemente rattristato e pensiamo a te, Marina, e a tuo figlio con grande affetto e compartecipazione.
   Vi siamo vicini con i nostri cuori e vi abbracciamo sentitamente.
   Con questo animo porgiamo a te, a tuo figlio e ai vostri cari vicini e lontani le nostre più sentite condoglianze abbracciandovi ancora.

   Giancarlo e Manuela Santoprete

7. Nature will not be denied: we arrive, carry the adventure of life, and go. We leave behind ripples: fragments of DNA to spread through the human race; skills passed on; nuggets of wisdom; memories of love. Some, very few, make history, marking an event or another, a fingerprint from the past, an indelible trace in our memory. They don’t die, but carry on with us.

   Florin carries on with us. He had a gift for turning complex mathematics into simple-seeming and fascinating stories. Page after page one learns about the motion of the planets, time, tsunamis and the lives of great scholars. His determined and consistent efforts have blazed new trails in celestial mechanics and invited others to walk them. Florin is here, bringing joy and wonder in our minds. Thank you!

8. Marina, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your sweetheart, Florin. As difficult as it is, take comfort in knowing sometime you will be reunited with him and other family members. You are in my prayers. Sincere condolences, Carey Barnard.

9. Dear Mariana, my deepest and most sincere condolences.I was so impressed with the way you managed and coped with the extremely difficult situation you had during the last weeks in Singapore. Even though I only knew the two of you for a short time I miss both of you and our great and enjoyable tennis, yoga and zumba together. I look at your beautiful plants every day and make sure they are nursed well.
   Warm and sincere regards
   Lone

10. Dear Mariana,

    I was very shocked and saddened to hear of your husband’s death. I am so very sorry that you have suffered such a profound loss. You were blessed to have had such a wonderful partner for many years and I trust that all the happy memories you have of your time together will sustain you. My thoughts and prayers are with you — please let me know if I can offer any other kind of support. With love and sympathy, Helen