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Why Envieta?
Fanciscus Vieta | 1540 - 1603
Why Envieta?
ENVIETA was named in honor of Franciscus Vieta,
a sixteenth century French mathematician who made important contributions to Algebra.

François Viète (or Vieta), seigneur de la Bigotière (1540 - February 13, 1603), generally known as Franciscus Vieta, was a French mathematician.

He was born at Fontenay-le-Comte, in Poitou, and is believed to have been brought up as a Roman Catholic; but there is no doubt that he was a Huguenot for several years. On the completion of his studies in law at Poitiers Vieta began his career as an advocate in his native town. He left in about 1567, and later became a councillor of the Parliament of Brittany, at Rennes. The religious troubles drove him out, and Henri, duc de Rohan, a well-known leader of the Huguenots, took him under his special protection, recommending him in 1580 as a "maître des requêtes". Henry of Navarre, at Rohan's instigation, addressed two letters to King Henry III of France on March 3 and April 26, 1585, in an attempt to obtain Vieta's restoration to his former office; he failed. After Henry of Navarre became King of France, Vieta was given the position of councillor of the parlement at Tours (1589).

While at Tours, Vieta discovered the key to a Spanish cipher, consisting of more than 500 characters, and this meant that all dispatches in that language which fell into the hands of the French could be easily read. However, his fame now rests entirely on his achievements in mathematics. Being wealthy, he printed numerous papers at his own expense, in which he wrote on various branches of the science, and sent them to scholars in almost every country of Europe.

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