Culture and heritage in Côte Vermeille organizes Friday, February 10 a conference given by the emeritus research director at the CNRS, oceanographer and ecologist, Guy Jacques, on the theme “François Arago, the forgotten”.
François Arago (1786-¬1853) remains, for many, one of the outstanding figures of the Second Republic, which saw him exercise the functions of a head of state and work in particular for the abolition of slavery. . Illustrious, but forgotten in Estagel, in his department and in France. Arago had a rich life, where science and politics mingle, from one revolution to another. Trained at the École polytechnique under the Empire, François Arago began his career with the reading of the Paris meridian. This adventure, which led him to the bottom of the jails of the Dey of Algiers, also placed him at the forefront of the scientific community. Returning as a hero to Paris in 1809, he was elected to the Academy of Sciences at the age of 23. Professor at the École Polytechnique, director of the Bureau des longitudes and the Paris Observatory, he is one of the main organizers of French science. This “universal” scientist is famous both through his own work and through the contacts he maintains with his peers. Light, electromagnetism, astronomy, so many areas where he left his mark. Also, it is no coincidence that Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers, founder of the Oceanological Observatory of Banyuls-sur-Mer in 1882, wanted to pay homage to him by giving his name to this establishment which is today historically known as “Laboratory Arago”.
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