Picard, Émile

Born July 24, 1856, in Paris; died there Dec. 11, 1941. French mathematician. Member of the Académie des Sciences in Paris (1889) and the Académie Française (1924).

Picard graduated from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris in 1877 and was appointed a professor there in 1881. In 1886 he became a professor at the University of Paris. Picard’s research dealt chiefly with the theory of differential equations, particularly critical points and asymptotic solutions. He developed the method of successive approximations. In the theory of functions of a complex variable, Picard established an important theorem bearing his name. He was also the author of studies on algebraic functions and the application of such functions to the general theory of algebraic curves and surfaces.