  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.
