Evariste Galois (1811-1832) was a French mathematician born in Bourg-la-Reine. While still in his teens, he was able to determine a necessary and sufficient condition for a polynomial to be solvable by radicals, thereby solving a long-standing problem. His work laid the foundations for Galois theory, a major branch of abstract algebra, and the subfield of Galois connections. He was the first to use the word "group" as a technical term in mathematics to represent a group of permutations. As a teenager Galois wass constantly failing exams and fighting with teachers, was imprisoned for threstening the king's life and finally died of wounds suffered while dueling over a harlot. A tragic prodigy.