Barbilian spaces: the history of a geometric idea (Q997158)

Dan Barbilian (1895--1961) was both a poet and a mathematician. His mathematical papers are scarce (the article mentions 9, of which 6 are in Romanian) but one from 1934 has caught some attention. Referring to the Klein-Beltrami model of plane hyperbolic geometry, he defined in it a certain class of metric spaces, now named after him, and this article offers a ``chronological clarification'' of event which led to the recently increased interest in Barbilian's invention.