Inverse spectral problem for normal matrices and a generalization of the Gauss-Lucas theorem

We estabish an analog of the Cauchy-Poincare separation theorem for normal matrices in terms of majorization. Moreover, we present a solution to the inverse spectral problem (Borg-type result) for a normal matrix. Using this result we essentially generalize and complement the known Gauss--Lucas theorem on the geometry of the roots of a complex polynomial and of its derivative. In turn the last result is applied to prove the old conjectures of de Bruijn-Springer and Schoenberg about these roots.