The problem on the desk
How can a model represent a person’s image of themselves, and that image’s own perspective? Lefebvre described beginning with nested drawings of people, then replacing the drawings with algebraic expressions to make the structure explicit.1
A life in moments
- 1936
Leningrad
Born on 22 September.2
- 1967
Moscow
Published Conflicting Structures.3
- 1968
Moscow State University · Moscow
Completed mathematical studies, presenting his published book as the diploma work.4
- 1971
Moscow State University · Moscow
Completed a candidate degree in psychology.5
- 1974
University of California, Irvine · Irvine
Began work at Irvine.6
- 2020
Died on 9 April.6
Every line rests on a dated source (numbered below) unless it carries a mark: R for an inference, S for a story as told.
In their own words
I began by constructing models with little people.
Начал я с построения моделей с человечками.
A story
Drawing the observer inside the drawing
Lefebvre recalled drawing a person, a second person inside the first person’s head, and another inside that image. Replacing these nested pictures with algebra was his route toward a formal representation of self-awareness.7
Around Lefebvre
- co-author Georgy Smolyan Co-authored Algebra of Conflict in 1968.8
The genealogy lists only what the database records; a missing name is not a missing teacher.
The card in the book
Trained in mathematics at Moscow State University, where he took a candidate's degree in psychology in 1971; from 1974 he worked at the University of California, Irvine. He developed mathematical models of reflexive processes — decision-makers holding explicit models of each other's models — introduced the concept of reflexive control, steering an opponent by shaping the model it holds, and later built a formal model of ethical systems and conscience.
Main works Conflicting Structures (in Russian, 1967; 2nd ed. 1973); “The basic ideas of reflexive game logic” (in Russian, 1965); Algebra of Conscience (1982).
To read further
- The Cosmism of Lefebvre’s Reflection: a conversation with V. A. Lefebvre, Vadim A. Petrovsky; interviewee Vladimir A. Lefebvre (2013) · interview
Sources (8)
- The Cosmism of Lefebvre’s Reflection: a conversation with V. A. Lefebvre, Vadim A. Petrovsky; interviewee Vladimir A. Lefebvre, 2013; p. 8, first answer
- Gaudí in psychology: Vadim Petrovsky on Vladimir Lefebvre, Vadim A. Petrovsky; Psychological Newspaper, 2020; 22 September; opening birth and death paragraph
- Vladimir Aleksandrovich Lefebvre, Psychological Newspaper, professional biographical directory; Main publications
- Vladimir Aleksandrovich Lefebvre, Psychological Newspaper, professional biographical directory; First educational paragraph
- Vladimir Lefebvre: faculty profile, University of California, Irvine, 2004; Degree and Researcher, Cognitive Sciences; last updated 18 October 2004
- Vladimir Aleksandrovich Lefebvre, Psychological Newspaper, professional biographical directory; Dated biographical paragraphs and list of publications
- The Cosmism of Lefebvre’s Reflection: a conversation with V. A. Lefebvre, Vadim A. Petrovsky; interviewee Vladimir A. Lefebvre, 2013; p. 8
- The Cosmism of Lefebvre’s Reflection: a conversation with V. A. Lefebvre, Vadim A. Petrovsky; interviewee Vladimir A. Lefebvre, 2013; p. 7, footnote 2
The facts on this page were gathered for the site from the sources listed, each checked against its locator; the book's card is reproduced unchanged.