Victor Michael Jean-Marie Thébault (1882–1960) was a French

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

best known for propounding three problems in

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

. The name Thébault's theorem is used by some authors to refer to the first of these problems and by others to refer to the third. Thébault was born on March 6, 1882, in Ambrières-les-Grand (today a part of Ambrières-les-Vallées,

Mayenne Mayenne ( ) is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Il ...

) in the northwest of France. He got his education at a teacher's college in Laval, where he studied from 1898 to 1901. After his graduation he taught for three years at Pré-en-Pail until he got a professorship at technical school in Ernée. In 1909 he placed first in a competitive exams, which yielded him a certificate to work as a science professor at teachers' colleges. Thébault however found a professor's salary insufficient to support his large family and hence he left teaching to become a factory superintendent at Ernée from 1910 to 1923. In 1924 he became a chief insurance inspector in

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, a position he held until his retirement in 1940. During his retirement he lived in Tennie. He died on March 19, 1960, shortly after a severe stroke and was survived by his wife, five sons and a daughter. Despite leaving teaching Thébault stayed active in mathematics with number theory and geometry being his main areas of interest. He published a large number of articles in math journals all over the world and aside from regular articles he also contributed many original problems and solutions to their problem sections. He published over 1000 original problems in various mathematical magazines and his contributions to the problem section of the

American Mathematical Monthly ''The American Mathematical Monthly'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics. It was established by Benjamin Finkel in 1894 and is published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the Mathematical Association of America. It is an exposi ...

alone comprise over 600 problems and solutions. In recognition of his contributions the French government bestowed two titles on him. In 1932 he became an ''Officier de L'Instruction Publique'' and in a 1935 a ''Chevalier de l'Order de Couronne de Belgium''.

Notes

C. W. Trigg: ''Victor Thebault 1882-1960''. Mathematics Magazine, Vol. 33, No. 5 (May - Jun., 1960)
JSTOR
Alexander Ostermann, Gerhard Wanner: ''Geometry by Its History''. Springer, 2012, p. 181 {{DEFAULTSORT:Thebault, Victor 1882 births 1960 deaths 20th-century French mathematicians French geometers