Dominique François Jean Arago

(26 Feb 1786 -2 Oct 1853)

François Arago was a French physicist who was eduand later from Paris.

Known for his republican views, Arcated in Perpignan and at theÉcole Polytechnique, Paris, where, at the age of 23, he succeeded Gaspard Monge in the chair of analytic geometry. Subsequently he was director of the Paris Observatory and permanent secretary of the Academy of Sciences. Political career of Arago started in 1830 when he was elected deputy from Pyrénées-Orientales ago became a member of the Provisional Government (24 Feb 1848 - 9 May 1848) formed after the Revolution of 1848. As minister of war and navy, he appointed greatest advocate of ending slavery Victor Schoelcher as undersecretary for the navy, who prepared the famous decree that abolished slavery in the colonies. Arago was elected to the National Constituent Assembly and then to the Executive Power Commission on 10 May 1848.

Sources: text: "Procès-verbaux du gouvernement provisoire et de la Commission du Pouvoir exécutif (24 février-22 juin 1848)," published by Comité National du Centenaire de 1848 (Paris, 1950); "Recueil complet des actes du gouvernement provisoire (février, mars, avril, mai 1848): avec des notes explicatives, des tables chronologiques et une table alphabétique, analytique et raisonnée des matières", ed. by Émile Carrey (Paris, Auguste Durand, 1848); resignation of the Executive Power Commission found in "Histoire de la Révolution de 1848", vol. 2, pp. 417-418;image: portrait of François Arago by Ary Scheffer.

Taken from:

http://lego70.tripod.com/fran/arago.htmAlso see:
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Arago.html

http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/arago.html
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Fran%E7ois%20Arago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%E7ois_Jean_Dominique_Arago