May 19, 2009, 13:28 GMT
Oslo - Norwegian King Harald on Tuesday presented the Abel Prize for mathematics to Russian-born Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov of France.
Gromov was cited for 'his revolutionary contributions to geometry' when in March he was named winner of the prize, sometimes known as the 'Nobel Prize for mathematics.'
The 65-year-old Gromov became a French citizen in 1992 and is a professor at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques at Bures- sur-Yvette, France.
The Abel Prize is worth 6 million kroner (940,000 dollars). It was first awarded 2003.
The jury said Gromov has produced 'profoundly original general ideas, which have resulted in new perspectives on geometry and other areas of mathematics.'
Implications ranged from the DNA string to discoveries about the universe.
The Abel Prize was established in 2002 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Niels Henrik Abel. The Norwegian is acknowledged as one of the great names in mathematics although he died aged just 26.
Former winners include Srinivasa S R Varadhan, Lennart Carleson, Peter D Lax, Sir Michael Francis Atiyah, Isadore M Singer and Jean- Pierre Serre.
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