Louis Fabry (20 April 1862 – 26 January 1939) was a French

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

Biography

Louis Fabry was born in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in 1862 to a Provençal family with five boys. His brothers

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, Eugène and Auguste were, respectively, a

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 cau ...

, a

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and a magistrate. From childhood he showed a keen taste for

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. He joined the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

in 1880, before his brother Eugène and five years before his brother Charles. After receiving his licenciate, he became a student in the school of astronomy that Admiral Mouchez had just opened at the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...

. He was then sent to the

Nice Observatory The Nice Observatory () is an astronomical observatory located in Nice, France on the summit of Mount Gros. The observatory was founded in 1879, by the banker Raphaël Bischoffsheim. The architect was Charles Garnier (architect), Charles Garnier, ...

and remained there until 1890. It was during his stay in Nice he married and became widowed a few months after. Back in his hometown, he joined the

Marseille Observatory Marseille Observatory () is an astronomical observatory located in Marseille, France, with a history that goes back to the early 18th century. In its 1877 incarnation, it was the discovery site of a group of galaxies known as Stephan's Quintet, ...

where he was promoted to assistant astronomer in 1895. He remained there until his retirement in 1924. He died in Les Lecques in 1939.

References

* "Louis Fabry (1862-1939)", Jean Bosler, ''Ciel et Terre'' 56 (1940), pp. 36–39, .
"Fabry, Louis"
Jacques R. Lévy, ''Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography'', Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. *
"Notice nécrologique sur L. Fabry"
Gaston Fayet, ''Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences'', 208 (1939), pp. 545–547. 1862 births 1939 deaths 19th-century French astronomers École Polytechnique alumni 20th-century French astronomers {{france-astronomer-stub