John Lighton Synge (born 23.03.1897) — an Irish theoretical physicist and mathematician, a member of the Royal Irish Academy and its president in 1961—64. Born in Dublin. He graduated from the University of Dublin (1919). In 1920-25 he was a lecturer, and in 1930-43 professor, at the University of Toronto (Canada); in 1925—30 he was professor at the University of Dublin, in 1943-46 at Ohio State University, in 1946-48 at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, and in 1948—72 at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Dublin.
His research concerned mathematics, classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, relativity, optics and the theory of gravitation. He extended the geometrical methods in classical mechanics and relativity. He constructed relativistic models of gravitational fields.