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Hubert Curien (30 October 1924 – 6 February 2005) was a French
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
and a key figure in European science politics, as the President of
CERN Council (1994–1996), the first chairman of the
European Space Agency
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...
(ESA) (1981–1984), and second President of the
Academia Europæa
The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences.
The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...
and a President of
Fondation de France
The Fondation de France ("Foundation of France") is an independent administrative agency which was established by the French government in an effort to stimulate and foster the growth of private philanthropy and private foundations in France.Fon ...
.
Biography
Born in
Cornimont
Cornimont (; german: Hornenberg) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
History
A World War II tank battle was fought in Cornimont at Haut-du-Faing on 16 October 1944.
See also
*Communes of the Vosges depar ...
,
Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
in
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
, Curien enlisted in the French resistance during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. After the war he studied physics at the
École normale supérieure
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, S ...
in Paris.
Curien became the director general of the
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science
Basic research, also called pure research o ...
(CNRS) in 1969, and was one of the founders of the
European Science Foundation and chairman from 1979 to 1984. He was also head of the French space agency from 1976 to 1984, and first chairman of the board of ESA from 1981 to 1984.
Curien was the Minister of Research of France from 1984 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1993. He entered the
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...
in 1994.
Curien was the President of the
Fondation de France
The Fondation de France ("Foundation of France") is an independent administrative agency which was established by the French government in an effort to stimulate and foster the growth of private philanthropy and private foundations in France.Fon ...
from 1998 through 2000.
Two years later, in November 2002, he retired from
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
after 38 years of contribution to accelerator projects, starting as a fellow in 1964.
As a tribute to Curien, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to rename its bilateral scientific exchange programmes, previously referred to as "Integrated Action Programmes" or "PAI" to "Hubert Curien Partnerships" or "PHC". The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has such "Hubert Curien Partnerships" with more than 60 countries of the world.
The 2004 Forum Engelberg also paid tribute to their President Curien for the occasion of his upcoming 80th birthday.
In honor of his contribution to European space, it was decided by ESA, NASA, and the international Committee for Space Research (
COSPAR
The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) was established on October 3, 1958 by the International Council for Scientific Unions (ICSU). Among COSPAR's objectives are the promotion of scientific research in space on an international level, wi ...
) to name the landing site of the
Huygens probe
''Huygens'' ( ) was an atmospheric entry robotic space probe that landed successfully on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005. Built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), launched by NASA, it was part of the ''Cassini–Huygens'' mission and ...
after him, and from 14 March 2007 it is known as the "Hubert Curien Memorial Station".
ESA News item dated 06 Mar 2007, Huygens landing site to be named after Hubert Curien
/ref>
His son Pierre-Louis Curien Pierre-Louis or Pierre Louis is a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
*Pierre-Louis Bentabole (1756–1798), revolutionary Frenchman
* Pierre-Louis Billaudèle (1796–1869), priest from, and educated in, Fran ...
is a noted theoretical computer scientist.
See also
*French Crystallographic Association
The French Crystallographic Association (AFC) brings together physicists, chemists and biologists that use crystals and crystallography in their research or develop new crystallographic methods. Originally part of the French Society of Mineral ...
*Hubert Curien Laboratory The Hubert Curien Laboratory or ''Laboratoire Hubert Curien ''is a joint research unit (UMR 5516) of the University of Saint-Etienne, the National Research Centre CNRS, and (since 2016) the Institut d'Optique Graduate School. It is composed of ab ...
* Hubert Curien Pluridisciplinary Institute
References
External links
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curien, Hubert
1924 births
2005 deaths
People associated with CERN
Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite
Lycée Saint-Louis alumni
École Normale Supérieure alumni
French physicists
Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
Members of Academia Europaea
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
People from Vosges (department)