François M. Spite

France

1930-2022

Obituary:

We learned with great sadness that François Spite passed away on
Thursday July 21st 2022.

François Spite began his PhD thesis at the Université de Lille with the
supervision of V. Kourganoff, in 1963 he transferred to Observatoire de
Paris where he was supervised by R. Cayrel. After his thesis, together
with his wife, IAU Member Monique Spite, he passed three years at the
European Southern Observatory (1972-1975). He remained at Observatoire
de Paris since then.

The scientific results of François, in collaboration with Monique,
are pillars of modern astrophysics and we mention here only a few. The
work on neutron-capture elements in metal-poor stars, the discovery that
the Li abundance among warm metal-poor stars is constant (also known
as the "Spite Plateau"), the works on the radioactive dating of stars,
the discovery that the O/Fe ratio is higher in metal-poor stars than in
solar metallicity stars, the works on the chemical composition of stars
in the Magellanic Clouds, the many works on the chemical composition
of stars of extremely low metallicity, including the current ``record''
holder, that is, the more metal-poor object so-far known.

His encyclopaedic vocation led François to work on the nomenclature of
celestial objects and he co-authored the first Dictionary of Nomenclature.
François was also a great populariser of Astronomy through his papers
aimed at the general public, his conferences and acting as a guide for
visits of the Observatoire de Paris. François always continued his
scientific activity even after retirement and could easily be found
in his office at the Meudon site of Observatoire de Paris up to the
very end of his life. He was always eager to counsel and help younger
researchers over several generations. His collaborators shall never
forget his kindness, his goodwill, his scientific curiosity, the depth
of his analysis and of his understanding of physics and astrophysics,
as well as his delicate sense of humor.

His depart is an immense loss for the GEPI laboratory, the Paris
Observatory and for the scientific community. His lessons shall not be
forgotten and they will guide us for the future.