Laurent Schwartz
Laurent-Moïse Schwartz (5 March 1915 – 4 July 2002 in Paris) was a French mathematician.
Among other teaching positions, he taught at École Polytechnique from 1959 to 1980.
His considerable mathematical work, including the theory of distributions, won him the Fields Medal in 1950.
Apart from his scientific work, he was a well-known outspoken intellectual. Leaning towards communism, he refused Stalin's totalitarianism. He campaigned against France's colonial war in Algeria.
Being a Jew, he had to spend parts WWII in hiding under aliases, most predominantly the name of Laurent Sélimartin. He is related to the Debré family.
Reference
- Schwartz, Laurent (2001). A Mathematician Grappling with His Century. Birkhauser. ISBN 3764360526. A translation in English of Laurent Schwartz's autobiography, Un mathématicien aux prises avec le siècle, originally published in 1997.
External links
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Laurent Schwartz", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- Biography of Laurent Schwartz from the American Mathematical Society
- Review of Schwartz's autobiography, same source
