FRECHET, (RENE-)MAURICE

born Sept. 2, 1878, Maligny, Fr. died June 4, 1973, Paris French mathematician known chiefly for his contribution to real analysis. He is credited with being the founder of the theory of abstract spaces, which generalized the traditional mathematical definition of space as a locus for the comparison of figures; in Frchet's terms, space is defined as a set of points and the set of relations in which those points are involved. Frchet was professor of mechanics at the University of Poitiers (191019) before moving to the University of Strasbourg, where he was professor of higher calculus (192027). Joining the faculty of the University of Paris, he served as lecturer on the calculus of probabilities (192833), professor of general mathematics (193335), professor of differential and integral calculus (193540), and professor of the calculus of probabilities (194048). In addition to his pioneering work on the theory of abstract spaces, Frchet studied topology (the branch of mathematics dealing with the properties of a geometric figure that remain unchanged upon elastic deformation) and contributed notably to statistics and to differential and integral calculus. His major works include Les Espaces abstraits (1928; Abstract Spaces); Rcherches thoriques modernes sur la thorie des probabilits (193738; Modern Theoretical Researches on the Theory of Probabilities); Les Probabilits associes un systme d'venements compatibles et dependants (193943; The Probabilities Associated with a System of Compatible and Dependent Events); Pages choisies d'analyse gnrale (1953; Chosen Pages of General Analysis); and Les Mathmatiques et le concret (1955; Mathematics and the Concrete).