Laurent Schwartz
| Laurent Schwartz | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
5 March 1915 Paris, France |
| Died | 4 July 2002 (aged 87) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions |
University of Strasbourg University of Grenoble École Polytechnique Université de Paris VII |
| Alma mater | École Normale Supérieure |
| Doctoral advisor | Georges Valiron |
| Doctoral students |
Maurice Audin Bernard Beauzamy Georges Glaeser Alexander Grothendieck Jacques-Louis Lions Bernard Malgrange André Martineau Leopoldo Nachbin Henri Hogbe Nlend Gilles Pisier François Treves |
| Known for |
Theory of Distributions Schwartz kernel theorem Schwartz space Schwartz–Bruhat function Radonifying operator Cylinder set measure |
| Influenced | Per Enflo |
| Notable awards | Fields Medal (1950) |
Laurent-Moïse Schwartz (5 March 1915 – 4 July 2002) was a French mathematician. He pioneered the theory of distributions, which gives a well-defined meaning to objects such as the Dirac delta function. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1950 for his work on the theory of distributions. For several years he taught at the École polytechnique.
Laurent Schwartz came from a Jewish family of Alsatian origin, with a strong scientific background: his father was a well-known surgeon, his uncle Robert Debré (who contributed to the creation of UNICEF) was a famous pediatrician, and his great-uncle-in-law, Jacques Hadamard, was a famous mathematician.
During his training at Lycée Louis-le-Grand to enter the École Normale Supérieure, he fell in love with Marie-Hélène Lévy, daughter of the probabilist Paul Lévy who was then teaching at the École polytechnique. Later they would have two children, Marc-André and Claudine. Marie-Hélène was gifted in mathematics as well, as she contributed to the geometry of singular analytic spaces and taught at the University of Lille.
Angelo Guerraggio describes "Mathematics, politics and butterflies" as his "three great loves".
Schwartz was a distant relative of oncologist Laurent Henri Schwartz.
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