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Pierre de Carcavi

b. Lyons, France c. 1600
d. Paris, France April 1684


Carcavi became a member of the parlement of Toulouse on 20 July 1632 where Fermat was concurrently a member, serving until 1636. He left for Paris after having purchased the office of the member of the grand conseil. He sold this office in 1648 in order to pay his father's debts and thereupon entered the service of the Duke of Leoncourt. By virtue of this relationship he became custodian of the Royal Library in 1663, a post he held to 1683. This library was later the site of the meetings of the French Academy of Science. Carcavi counted among his friends Huygens, Pascal and Fermat and is best known for having served like Mylon as an intermediary between many of the leading scientists of the time.

During his life he carried out an extensive correspondence with many scientists including Galileo, Mersenne, Descartes, Fermat, Blaise Pascal and Christiaan Huygens, in a role frequently that of intermediary.