Olinde Rodrigues

Benjamin Olinde Rodrigues (born 1794 in Bordeaux, died 1851 in Paris), more commonly known as Olinde Rodrigues, was a French mathematician and social reformer.

Rodrigues was born into a well-to-do Jewish family. As Jews were prohibited from enrolling at the École Polytechnique, the most prestigious school in Paris, he attended the École Normale instead. Rodrigues was awarded a doctorate in mathematics in 1816. His dissertation contains the result now called Rodrigues' formula.

After graduation, Rodrigues became a banker. Rodrigues became a close associate of the Comte de Saint-Simon. After the death of Saint-Simon in 1825, Rodrigues continued to champion his socialist ideals. Rodrigues published writings on politics, social reform, and banking.

In 1840 Rodrigues published a result on transformation groups. However, his work on mathematics was largely ignored, and has only relatively recently been rediscovered.

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