Émile Mathieu was born into a family of minor civil servants. His father, Nicolas Mathieu, was a cashier at the Tax Office of the city. His mother, Amélie Antoinette Aubertin, was from Metz while her brother, Pierre Aubertin, the uncle of our mathematician, had attended the École Polytechnique, was a colonel of artillery and the director of a foundry which made cannons. Émile Mathieu was brought up in Metz, and he attended school at the Lycée de Metz in that town. He excelled at school, first in classical studies showing remarkable abilities in Latin and Greek compositions. However, once he had met mathematics when he was in his teenage years, it became the only subject which he wanted to pursue. We mentioned above that his uncle Pierre Aubertin had studied at the École Polytechnique and he advised Émile on preparing himself for the entrance examinations which he took successfully in 1854.
