François Viète, Seigneur de la Bigotière, commonly known by his mononym, Vieta, was a French mathematician whose work on new algebra was an important step towards modern algebra, due to his innovative use of letters as parameters in equations. Wikipedia
Born: 1540, Fontenay-le-Comte, France
Died: February 23, 1603 (age 63 years), Paris, France
Known for: New algebra (the first symbolic algebra); Vieta's formulas; Viète's formula
Education: University of Poitiers (1558–1559)
Parents: Etienne Viète and Marguerite Dupont
Other names: Franciscus Vieta