Editing Andrey Markov (section)

== Timeline ==
In 1877, Markov was awarded a gold medal for his outstanding solution of the problem

''About Integration of Differential Equations by [[Continued Fractions]] with an Application to the Equation'' <math> (1+x^2) \frac{dy}{dx} = n (1+y^2)</math>.

During the following year, he passed the candidate's examinations, and he remained at the university to prepare for a lecturer's position.

In April 1880, Markov defended his [[master's degree|master's thesis]] "On the Binary Square Forms with Positive Determinant", which was directed by Aleksandr Korkin and Yegor Zolotarev. Four years later in 1884, he defended his doctoral thesis titled "On Certain Applications of the Algebraic Continuous Fractions".

His [[pedagogy|pedagogical]] work began after the defense of his master's thesis in autumn 1880. As a [[privatdozent]] he lectured on differential and integral calculus. Later he lectured alternately on "introduction to analysis", probability theory (succeeding Chebyshev, who had left the university in 1882) and the calculus of differences. From 1895 through 1905 he also lectured in [[differential calculus]].

[[File:AAMarkov.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Markov|Markov]]
One year after the defense of his doctoral thesis, Markov was appointed extraordinary professor (1886) and in the same year he was elected adjunct to the Academy of Sciences. In 1890, after the death of Viktor Bunyakovsky, Markov became an extraordinary member of the academy. His promotion to an ordinary professor of St. Petersburg University followed in the fall of 1894.

In 1896, Markov was elected an ordinary member of the academy as the successor of [[Chebyshev]]. In 1905, he was appointed merited professor and was granted the right to retire, which he did immediately. Until 1910, however, he continued to lecture in the calculus of differences.

In connection with student riots in 1908, professors and lecturers of St. Petersburg University were ordered to monitor their students. Markov refused to accept this decree, and he wrote an explanation in which he declined to be an "agent of the governance". Markov was removed from further teaching duties at St. Petersburg University, and hence he decided to retire from the university.

Markov was an [[atheist]]. In 1912, he responded to [[Leo Tolstoy]]'s [[excommunication]] from the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] by requesting his own excommunication. The Church complied with his request.<ref>"Of course, Markov, an atheist and eventual excommunicate of the Church quarreled endlessly with his equally outspoken counterpart Nekrasov. The disputes between Markov and Nekrasov were not limited to mathematics and religion, they quarreled over political and philosophical issues as well."  Gely P. Basharin, [[Amy Langville|Amy N. Langville]], Valeriy A. Naumov, [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20121218173228/https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/meyn/www/spm_files/Markov-Work-and-life.pdf The Life and Work of A. A. Markov], page 6.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity|year=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-03293-4|author1=Loren R. Graham|author2=Jean-Michel Kantor|page=69|quote=Markov (1856–1922), on the other hand, was an atheist and a strong critic of the Orthodox Church and the tzarist government (Nekrasov exaggeratedly called him a Marxist).}}</ref>

[[File:Literator Bridges Grave Markov.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Markov's headstone|Markov's [[headstone]]]]
In 1913, the council of St. Petersburg elected nine scientists honorary members of the university. Markov was among them, but his election was not affirmed by the minister of education. The affirmation only occurred four years later, after the [[February Revolution]] in 1917. Markov then resumed his teaching activities and lectured on probability theory and the calculus of differences until his death in 1922.