Franco-Canadian astrophysicist Hubert Reeves died this Friday at the age of 91. His son, Benoit Reeves, announced the death in a message posted on Facebook. “My whole family joins me in the pain of having to announce to you that our dear father has left to join the stars,” wrote Benoit Reeves on the social network.
The great scientific popularizer, born in Montreal in 1932, had been “officially” retired since 1999, but continued his activist activities.
An officer of the National Order of Quebec, Hubert Reeves was also a companion of the Order of Canada and commander of the Legion of Honor of France. Still in France, he was named grand officer of the National Order of Merit in 2019. The astrophysicist received numerous honorary doctorates, including those from the universities of Montreal (1984), Bern (1989), and Brussels. (1992), Ottawa (2004), Moncton (1991), Quebec to Montreal (2010) and Sherbrooke (2011).
Hubert Reeves is honorary president of Humanity and Biodiversity, a French association whose credo is: Placing biodiversity at the heart of our societies.