Born: 25 October 1811 · Died: 31 May 1832 · Age: 20
Mathematical prodigy who pioneered group theory before his early death
Did you know?He died in his early twenties after being shot in a duel, reportedly over a romantic dispute.
Quick facts
Date of birth25 October 1811
Date of death31 May 1832
Age at death20
Cause of deathGunshot wound
NationalityFrench
BirthplaceBourg-la-Reine, France
Occupationmathematician, revolutionary
Editor's Take:
Évariste Galois crammed a lifetime of mathematics into a few short, troubled years. He found a way to decide which equations can be solved by simple formulas. He linked the question to the symmetries of their roots. Senior mathematicians lost or rejected his papers. He was an ardent republican and was jailed twice. His death in a duel remains partly mysterious. His work, published years later, became the foundation of modern algebra.
Key Milestones
1829: Publishes his first paper
1830: Joins the republican cause during the July Revolution
1831: Imprisoned for political activity
1832: Dies after a duel
Évariste Galois (French:; 25 October 1811 – 31 May 1832) was a French mathematician and political activist. While still in his teens, he was able to determine a necessary and sufficient condition for a polynomial to be solvable by radicals, thereby solving a problem that had been open for 350 years.
