Adrien-Marie Legendre (1752 - 1833)

It is a matter for considerable regret that Fermat, who cultivated the theory of numbers with so much success, did not leave us with the proofs of the theorems he discovered. In truth, Messrs Euler and Lagrange, who have not distained this kind of research, have proved most of these theorems, and have even substituted extensive theories for the isolated propositions of Fermat. But there are several proofs which have resisted their efforts.

Recherches d'Analyse Indéterminée, Hist Acad Roy des Sciences (1785/1788) 513.

Another quotation by one of today's mathematicians

JOC/EFR May 2017	School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St Andrews, Scotland