Marcel-Paul "Marco" Schützenberger (24 October 1920 – 29 July 1996) 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, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and Doctor of Medicine. He worked in the fields of

formal language In logic, mathematics, computer science, and linguistics, a formal language consists of words whose letters are taken from an alphabet and are well-formed according to a specific set of rules. The alphabet of a formal language consists of sy ...

, combinatorics, and information theory.Herbert Wilf, Dominique Foata, ''et al.'',
In Memoriam: Marcel-Paul Schützenberger, 1920-1996
," ''Electronic Journal of Combinatorics'', served from University of Pennsylvania Dept. of Mathematics Server, article dated 12 October 1996, retrieved from WWW on 4 November 2006. In addition to his formal results in mathematics, he was "deeply involved in struggle against the votaries of eo-arwinism",Foata, Dominique, "In Memoriam," ''op. cit.'' a stance which has resulted in some mixed reactions from his peers and from critics of his stance on

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

. Several notable theorems and objects in mathematics as well as

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

bear his name (for example Schutzenberger group or the Chomsky–Schützenberger hierarchy). Paul Schützenberger was his great-grandfather. In the late 1940s, he was briefly married to the psychologist Anne Ancelin Schützenberger.

Contributions to medicine and biology

Schützenberger's first doctorate, in medicine, was awarded in 1948 from the ''Faculté de Médecine de Paris''.Schützenberger, Marcel-Paul,
Contribution à l'étude statistique du sexe à la naissance
', Doctoral thesis, ''Faculté de Médecine de Paris'', 2 July 1948. His doctoral thesis, on the statistical study of biological sex at birth, was distinguished by the Baron Larrey Prize from the French Academy of Medicine.Besson, Jaques, "
La quête de M. P. Schützenberger en Médecine et Biologie
'," dated March 2001, retrieved on 5 November 2006. Biologist Jaques Besson, a co-author with Schützenberger on a biological topic, while noting that Schützenberger is perhaps most remembered for work in pure mathematical fields, credits him for likely being responsible for the introduction of statistical sequential analysis in French hospital practice.Schützenberger, Marcel-Parul, "
Une application de l'analyse séquentielle
'," ''Semaine des Hôpitaux de Paris'', Vol. 25 No. 60, pp. 2562–2564, 14 August 1949.

Contributions to mathematics, computer science, and linguistics

Schützenberger's second doctorate was awarded in 1953 from Université Paris III. This work, developed from earlier results is counted amongst the early influential French academic work in information theory. His later impact in both

linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

and combinatorics is reflected by two theorems in formal linguistics (the Chomsky–Schützenberger enumeration theoremChomsky, Noam & Schützenberger, Marcel-Paul
The Algebraic Theory of Context-Free Languages
, in ''Computer Programming and Formal Systems'', P. Braffort and D. Hirschberg (eds.), North Holland, pp. 118-161, 1963. and the

Chomsky–Schützenberger representation theorem In formal language theory, the Chomsky–Schützenberger representation theorem is a theorem derived by Noam Chomsky and Marcel-Paul Schützenberger about representing a given context-free language in terms of two simpler languages. These two si ...

), and one in combinatorics (the Schützenberger theorem). With Alain Lascoux, Schützenberger is credited with the foundation of the notion of the

plactic monoid In mathematics, the plactic monoid is the monoid of all words in the alphabet of positive integers modulo Knuth equivalence. Its elements can be identified with semistandard Young tableaux. It was discovered by (who called it the tableau algebra ...

,Lascoux, Alain & Schützenberger, Marcel-Paul, "
Le monoïde plaxique
'," in ''Noncommutative structures in algebra and geometric combinatorics (Naples, 1978)'', volume 109 of ''Quad. Ricerca Sci.'', pp. 129–156, CNR, Rome, Italy, 1981. reflected in the name of the combinatorial structure called by some the Lascoux–Schützenberger tree. In

automata theory Automata theory is the study of abstract machines and automata, as well as the computational problems that can be solved using them. It is a theory in theoretical computer science. The word ''automata'' comes from the Greek word αὐτόματο� ...

, Schützenberger is credited with first defining (what later became known as) weighted automata, the first studied model of automata which compute a quantitative output. The mathematician Dominique Perrin credited Schützenberger with "deeply nfluencingthe theory of semigroups" and "deep results on rational functions and transducers", amongst other contributions to mathematics.

Offices, honors, and recognitions

;Professorships and other teaching * Professor in the Faculty of Sciences at the

University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; french: Université de Poitiers) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest studen ...

(1957–1963) * Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

(1961–1962) * Director of Research at the CNRS (1963–1964) * Professor at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

(1964–1970) * Professor in the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Paris VII (1970-until his death in 1996) ;National honors * In 1988, after having been a ''Correspondant'' since 1979, Schützenberger was made a full ''Membre'' of French Academy of Sciences. ; Posthumous recognitions After his death, two journals in theoretical mathematics dedicated issues to Schützenberger's memory. He was commemorated in this manner by ''

Theoretical Computer Science computer science (TCS) is a subset of general computer science and mathematics that focuses on mathematical aspects of computer science such as the theory of computation, lambda calculus, and type theory. It is difficult to circumscribe the ...

'' in 1998"Special issue: papers dedicated to the memory of Marcel-Paul Schützenberger", ''Theoretical Computer Science'', Nivat, M. & Perrin, Dominique (eds.), Vol. 204, Issues 1-2, September 1998. and again by the '' International Journal of Algebra and Computation'' in 1999."Special Issue: Dedicated to the Memory of Marcel-Paul Schützenberger," ''International Journal of Algebra and Computation'', Vol. 9, Nos. 3-4, June & August 1999. Issue at URL: https://www.worldscientific.com/toc/ijac/09/03n04 The mathematician David Berlinski provided this dedication in his 2000 book ''The Advent of The Algorithm: The Idea that Rules the World'': À la mémoire de mon ami . . M. P. Schützenberger, 1921-1996.

Trivia

* The character "Dr. Schütz" in

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sull ...

's 1948 novel, ''Et on tuera tous les affreux'', is said to have been inspired by Schützenberger.See: http://www.astroline.ro/P_Marcel-Paul_Schutzenberger__145.html * Together with many of his students, Schützenberger is one of the contributors of the pseudonymous collective M. Lothaire.

Works

For the complete list of his papers, see
Papers
* ''De la diversité de certains cancers''. Pierre Florent Denoix, Paris (1954)/''About the diversity of some cancers'' * ''Théorie géométrique des polynômes eulériens'', with Dominique Foata, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, Springer (1970)/''Geometric theory of Euler polynomials'' * ''Triangle de pensées'', with

Alain Connes Alain Connes (; born 1 April 1947) is a French mathematician, and a theoretical physicist, known for his contributions to the study of operator algebras and noncommutative geometry. He is a professor at the , , Ohio State University and Vand ...

and

André Lichnerowicz André Lichnerowicz (January 21, 1915, Bourbon-l'Archambault – December 11, 1998, Paris) was a noted French differential geometer and mathematical physicist of Polish descent. He is considered the founder of modern Poisson geometry. Biograp ...

, Paris, O. Jacob ; Saint-Gély du Fesc : Espace 34 (2000)/''Triangle of thoughts'' * ''Les failles du darwinisme'', La Recherche, n°283 (January 1996)/''The miracles of darwinism'' * ''Œuvres complètes'', edited by Jean Berstel, Alain Lascoux and Dominique Perrin, Institut Gaspard-Monge, Université Paris-Est (2009)/''Complete Works'' The Complete Works of Marcel-Paul Schützenberger
Complete Works

References and notes

External links

Publications of Marcel-Paul Schützenberger
(A list of 266 works authored or co-authored by Schützenberger from 1943 to 2000.) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schutzenberger, Marcel-Paul 1920 births 1996 deaths 20th-century French mathematicians French people of German descent 20th-century French physicians Combinatorialists French statisticians French information theorists French National Centre for Scientific Research scientists Members of the French Academy of Sciences University of Poitiers alumni University of Poitiers faculty Scientists from Paris University of Paris alumni