Laurent Schwartz (5 March 1915 – 4 July 2002 in Paris) was a French mathematician. March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining. ... 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... A mathematician is a person whose area of study and research is mathematics. ...

Among other teaching positions, he taught at École Polytechnique from 1959 to 1980. The cadets of Polytechnique rushed to the defense of Paris against the foreign armies in 1814. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

His considerable mathematical work, including the theory of distributions, won him the Fields Medal in 1950. This page deals with mathematical distributions. ... The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to up to four mathematicians (not over forty years of age) at each International Congress of International Mathematical Union, since 1936 and regularly since 1948 at the initiative of the Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields. ...

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. Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი; see Other names section) (December 21, 1879[1] – March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. ... Totalitarianism is a typology employed by political scientists to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ... The Algerian War of Independence (1954–62) was a period of guerrilla strikes, maquis fighting, terrorism against civilians on both sides, and riots between the French army and colonists, or the colons as they were called, in Algeria and the FLN (Front de Libération Nationale) and other pro-independence...

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. German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... The Debré family is a French family including several prominent politicians and physicians. ...

External links

• Biography at the MacTutor archive
• Biography of Laurent Schwartz from the American Mathematical Society
• Review of Schwartz's autobiography, same source