Ramon Llull

A pioneer of computation theory, Llull was a Majorcan writer and philosopher who wrote the first major work of Catalan literature. Recently-surfaced manuscripts show him to have anticipated, by several centuries, prominent work on elections theory. He is recognized as a pioneer of computation theory, especially given his influence on Gottfried Leibniz. Llull was also well known as a glossator of Roman Law.

He was born in Palma, the capital of the new Kingdom of Majorca, and was well educated. He was conversant in Latin, Catalan, Occitan, and Arabic. Around 1257 he became the seneschal (the administrative head of the royal household) to the future King James II of Majorca.

With the 2001 discovery of his lost manuscripts Ars notandi, Ars eleccionis, and Alia ars eleccionis, Llull was given credit for discovering the Borda count and Condorcet criterion, which Jean-Charles de Borda and Marquis de Condé independently discovered centuries later. The terms Llull winner and Llull loser are ideas in contemporary voting systems studies that are named in his honor. His systems of organizing concepts using devices such as trees, ladders, and wheels were analyzed as classification systems.

He was also known to have written at least 265 works, including: Desconort (on the superiority of reason), L'arbre de ciència, Arbor scientiae ("Tree of Science"), Ars electionis (on voting), and Artifitium electionis personarum (on voting).