[archgoon]

> I still remember my high school math teacher telling the class, in passing, that Galois was killed in a duel at age 20.

I think that's actually an example of the problem. Galois's politics really had nothing to do with the problem he was trying to solve. Historical features are thrown in as random info with no point. The point of making mathematicians real people is so that students can say "Oh! That's how they came up with that problem! That's why they solved it this way! I could have done that!"

Rather instead, we further mythologize the individuals. You don't need to join radical political organizations and get yourself killed in your 20s to be a great mathematician.