His father, who had charge of the king's military chest and was Treasurer of the Office of Public Works and Fortifications in Turin, should have maintained a good social position and wealth, but before his son grew up he had lost most of his property in speculations. A career as a lawyer was planned out for Lagrange by his father, and certainly Lagrange seems to have accepted this willingly. He studied at the University of Turin and his favourite subject was classical Latin. At first he had no great enthusiasm for mathematics, finding Greek geometry rather dull.