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I have just become aware of the 19th century French mathematician E. Midy, who apparently was the first to prove what is now known as Midy's theorem.

I can find out nothing about this mathematician beyond the fact that he wrote a paper De Quelques Propriétés des Nombres et des Fractions Décimales Périodiques from which "Midy's theorem" seems to have come.

Does anyone have any access to more information about him? Full name, dates and places of birth and death help to put him into context, but any other relevant details more than welcome.

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From the entry for Etienne Midy on Biographies of Scientists - Numericana:

Etienne Midy (c. 1775, fl. 1846)

Midy's theorem (1835)

His name is spelled Meidy in some records. He was probably already teaching when Napoléon instituted the lycées, in 1802. Midy himself advertised he had taught mathématiques spéciales at Cahors (1821-1826) and Orléans (1826-1832) before moving to Nantes.

At the Collège Royal de Nantes (future Lycée Clémenceau) Midy taught mathématiques élémentaires from 1833 to 1837. That post was entrusted to a young normalien (Alexandre Lepord, ENS 1834) when Midy was promoted to teach mathématiques spéciales again in 1837-1838 (after M. Dorveau resigned). Midy would be replaced in this capacity by M. Gascheau (previously, professor of physics) when a ministerial decree (1838-11-17) allowed him to retire.

In Nantes, Etienne Midy lived 3, rue Richebourg, next to his workplace.

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    $\begingroup$ @PrimeMover The self-published pamphlet: E. Midy, De quelques propriétés des nombres et des fractions décimales périodiques, Nantes 1836, 21 pp., can be perused at TIB as a high-quality scan $\endgroup$
    – njuffa
    Mar 17, 2022 at 23:18
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    $\begingroup$ Other publications: Midy (Étienne), "Analyse indéterminée du premier degré," Nouvelles annales de mathématiques, Vol. 4 (1845), pp. 146-152 (Google scan); Midy (Étienne),"Equations polaires," Nouvelles annales de mathématiques, Vol. 4 (1845), pp. 597-606 (Google scan) $\endgroup$
    – njuffa
    Mar 17, 2022 at 23:25
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    $\begingroup$ Another pamphlet: E. Midy, Du théorème de M. Sturm, èt de ses applications numériques, Nantes 1836, 37 pp. & 2 tables (scan at BNF Gallica) $\endgroup$
    – njuffa
    Mar 17, 2022 at 23:29
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    $\begingroup$ Possibly the same author: Midy, "Sur une proprieté des nombres," Nouvelles annales de mathématiques, Vol. 5 (1846), pp. 640-646 (Google scan) $\endgroup$
    – njuffa
    Mar 18, 2022 at 0:01
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    $\begingroup$ If the 1846 paper is by Etienne Midy, the author information states he was an instructor at Grande Sauve near Bordeaux at the time of publication. From the scant information I can find, Grande Sauve is the site of a former abbey that housed a teachers college at that time. $\endgroup$
    – njuffa
    Mar 18, 2022 at 0:13

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