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© Copyright 1999, Jim Loy
Evariste Galois was one of the great mathematicians, being one of the pioneers of abstract algebra (in particular, Galois Theory). He was also a political revolutionary. He was imprisoned at least once, and publicly threatened the life of the king (perhaps in jest). He made many enemies.
In 1832, at the age of 20, he fought a duel. He was shot in the intestines, and was left on the ground to die. A passerby took him to a hospital, where he did die.
There are rumors that he had made his most important mathematical discoveries just before the duel. Apparently this is not true, although he did write down some minor results before the duel.