  adrien-marie legendre () (18 september 1752 â 10 january 1833) was a french mathematician. legendre made numerous contributions to mathematics. well-known and important concepts such as the legendre polynomials and legendre transformation are named after him. == life == adrien-marie legendre was born in paris on 18 september 1752 to a wealthy family. he received his education at the collÃ¨ge mazarin in paris, and defended his thesis in physics and mathematics in 1770. he taught at the Ãcole militaire in paris from 1775 to 1780 and at the Ãcole normale from 1795. at the same time, he was associated with the bureau des longitudes. in 1782, the berlin academy awarded legendre a prize for his treatise on projectiles in resistant media. this treatise also brought him to the attention of lagrange. the acadÃ©mie des sciences made legendre an adjoint member in 1783 and an associÃ© in 1785. in 1789 he was elected a fellow of the royal society. legendre lost his private fortune in 1793 during the french revolution. that year, he also married marguerite-claudine couhin, who helped him put his affairs in order. in 1795 legendre became one of six members of the mathematics section of the reconstituted acadÃ©mie des sciences, renamed the institut national des sciences et des arts. later, in 1803, napoleon reorganized the institut national, and legendre became a member of the geometry section. from 1799 to 1815, legendre served as mathematics examiner for graduating artillery students at the Ãcole militaire. in 1824, legendre was de
1752_births 1833_deaths 18th-century_French_mathematicians 19th-century_French_mathematicians Fellows_of_the_American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society Members_of_the_French_Academy_of_Sciences Number_theorists Officiers_of_the_LA(c)gion_d\'honneur University_of_Paris_alumni