[_ptgt]

The pure mathematician is a relatively recent beast though, and most non-graduate students of math (i.e. almost all of them) study mathematics that almost exclusively was developed to solve a problem in the physical world.

[hyperpallium]

Euclid was a pure mathematician.

[salty_biscuits]

Almost nothing is known about who Euclid was. Might not have even been a single person.

[hyperpallium]

You might be other things as well, but if you write a textbook on pure mathematics, you are a pure mathematician.

[garmaine]

Euclid used his geometry to solve problems... its practical utility is what made it last for so long.