Joseph-Louis Lagrange, one of the mathematical giants of the 18th century, was born on January 25, 1736, in what is now Turin, Italy. However, he is generally considered to be a French mathematician, because in 1787 he became a member of the Académie des Sciences in Paris, where he remained for the rest of his career.
In September 1793, in the early period of the French Revolution a new law was enacted ordering the arrest of all foreigners born in enemy countries. When the great French chemist, Lavoisier, intervened on Lagrange’s behalf, he was declared a traitor and, following a summary trial was immediately sent to the guillotine.
Lagrange lamented, “It took only a moment to cause this head to fall and a hundred years will not suffice to produce its like.”
