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Jacques Hadamard
Times obituary
A GREAT FRENCH MATHEMATICIAN
Professor Jacques Hadamard, who had been one of the greatest French mathematicians, died at his Paris home on Thursday. He was 97.
Hadamard was the doyen not only of the Academy of Sciences, to which he was elected in December 1912, in the seat left vacant by the death of Henri Poincaré, but of the entire Institut de France. In December last year, he was formally presented with a gold medal specially struck to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his election to the academy, and tributes were paid to him by scientists from all over the world. His reputation was in no way diminished by his membership of the communist-inspired Peace Movement, which was his only connection with politics. It was sufficient, however, for him to be appropriated, as it were, by the French Communist Party.
Jacques Salomon Hadamard was born at Versailles on December 8, 1865, the son of a university professor. He was educated at the Lycée Louis le Grand, where his father had taught, and at the École Normale Superieure, two of the leading French educational establishments. Except for a period of three years at the University of Bordeaux, Hadamard's long life was spent entirely in Paris, first at the Sorbonne and then, from 1897 to 1935, at the Collège de France, and since then in retirement.
He devoted a great deal of his time to research in applied mathematics, particularly the mechanics of fluids, his theory of the propagation of sound waves, and an analysis of the Jurgens principle, and was the author of several volumes which were, in their time, standard works on various aspects of mathematics.
In 1892 he was given the highest French award for mathematical sciences, and he held honorary degrees from dozens of foreign universities. His last public appearance was as President of Honour at the International Mathematical Congress at Harvard in 1950—when he was already 85.
A GREAT FRENCH MATHEMATICIAN
Professor Jacques Hadamard, who had been one of the greatest French mathematicians, died at his Paris home on Thursday. He was 97.
Hadamard was the doyen not only of the Academy of Sciences, to which he was elected in December 1912, in the seat left vacant by the death of Henri Poincaré, but of the entire Institut de France. In December last year, he was formally presented with a gold medal specially struck to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his election to the academy, and tributes were paid to him by scientists from all over the world. His reputation was in no way diminished by his membership of the communist-inspired Peace Movement, which was his only connection with politics. It was sufficient, however, for him to be appropriated, as it were, by the French Communist Party.
Jacques Salomon Hadamard was born at Versailles on December 8, 1865, the son of a university professor. He was educated at the Lycée Louis le Grand, where his father had taught, and at the École Normale Superieure, two of the leading French educational establishments. Except for a period of three years at the University of Bordeaux, Hadamard's long life was spent entirely in Paris, first at the Sorbonne and then, from 1897 to 1935, at the Collège de France, and since then in retirement.
He devoted a great deal of his time to research in applied mathematics, particularly the mechanics of fluids, his theory of the propagation of sound waves, and an analysis of the Jurgens principle, and was the author of several volumes which were, in their time, standard works on various aspects of mathematics.
In 1892 he was given the highest French award for mathematical sciences, and he held honorary degrees from dozens of foreign universities. His last public appearance was as President of Honour at the International Mathematical Congress at Harvard in 1950—when he was already 85.
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