P. L. Chebyshev (1821-1894)

The aim of this paper is to outline the life and work of Chebyshev, creator in St. Petersburg of the largest prerevolutionary school of mathematics in Russia, who permitted himself to be equated only with Archimedes. Chebyshev, who was regularly in Paris, at the latest by 1852, if not already by 1842, a friend of Liouville and Hermite, was the author of ca 80 publications, covering approximation theory, probability theory, number theory, theory of mechanisms, as well as many problems of analysis and practical mathematics. He was also proud to be a constructor of various mechanisms, including an arithmometre. Although the paper is intended for an approximation theorist readership, an attempt is made to give proportionate coverage of the broad spectrum of Chebyshev's achievements, emphasis being placed upon their background. The paper is based in part upon the authors' studies during 1985?1991

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