Photo: Henri Manuel, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons²⁵

Paul Langevin

French physicist (1872–1946)

Paul Langevin (23 January 1872 – 19 December 1946) was a French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, an anti-fascist organization created after the 6 February 1934 far right riots.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Paul Langevin (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jan 23, 1872, died Dec 19, 1946.¹

About

Being a public opponent of fascism in the 1930s resulted in his arrest and being held under house arrest by the Vichy government for most of World War II. Langevin was also president of the Human Rights League (LDH) from 1944 to 1946, having recently joined the French Communist Party.

He was a doctoral student of Pierre Curie and later a lover of widowed Marie Curie. He is also known for his two US patents with Constantin Chilowsky in 1916 and 1917 involving ultrasonic submarine detection. He is entombed at the Panthéon.

From Wikipedia’s article on Paul Langevin, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

EDP SciencesFounder²³
La PenséeFounder²⁴

Early life and education

1888 to 1893ESPCI Paris, PSL University³
1894 to 1897École Normale Supérieure³
Date not recordedUniversity of Paris³
Date not recordedUniversity of Cambridge³

Career

Occupation: chemist, philosopher of science, pedagogue, university teacher, physicist.¹²

1944 to 1946President, Plan Langevin-Wallon⁸
1944 to 1946President, Human Rights League⁸
1938 to 1946President, Union rationaliste⁸
1938 to 1946Chair, Union rationaliste¹¹
1936 to 1946President, Groupe français d'éducation nouvelle⁸
1934 to 1939Founder, Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes⁸
1930 to 1933President, Solvay Conference⁸
1925 to 1946Director, ESPCI Paris, PSL University⁸
1909 to 1946Professor, Collège de France⁴
1909 to 1946Professor⁸
1905 to 1946Worked at ESPCI Paris, PSL University⁴
Date not recordedFounded EDP Sciences⁵

More of their career (5)

Date not recordedFounded La Pensée⁶
Date not recordedFounded Union rationaliste⁷
Date not recordedMember⁸
Date not recordedChair, 7th Solvay Conference on Physics⁹
Date not recordedChair, 6th Solvay Conference on Physics¹⁰

Known for: La physique depuis vingt ans, La Pensée et l'Action.¹³

Personal life

BornJan 23, 1872, Paris¹⁴
DiedDec 19, 1946, Paris¹⁵
CitizenshipFrance¹⁶
SpouseJeanne Desfosses¹⁷

In 1898, he married Emma Jeanne Desfosses, and together they had four children, Jean, André, Madeleine and Hélène.

In 1910, he had an affair with the then-widowed Marie Curie; some decades later, their respective grandchildren, grandson Michel Langevin and granddaughter Hélène Langevin-Joliot married one another. He was also noted for being an outspoken opponent of Nazism, and was removed from his post by the Vichy government following the occupation of the country by Nazi Germany. He was later restored to his position in 1944. He died in Paris in 1946, two years after living to see the Liberation of Paris. He is buried near several other prominent French scientists in the Panthéon in Paris.

In 1933, he had a son with physicist Éliane Montel (1898–1993), Paul-Gilbert Langevin, who became a renowned musicologist.

His daughter, Hélène Solomon-Langevin, was arrested for Resistance activity and survived several concentration camps. She was on the same convoy of female political prisoners as Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier and Charlotte Delbo.

From Wikipedia’s article on Paul Langevin (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

1946Commander with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta¹⁸
1946Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour¹⁸
1940Copley Medal^{18 22}
1930Commander of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword^{18 21}
1928Foreign Member of the Royal Society¹⁸
1924La Caze Prize of the Academy of Sciences¹⁸
1920Commander of the Order of the British Empire^{18 20}
1917Guthrie Lecture^{18 19}
1915Hughes Medal¹⁸
1901Saintour Prize¹⁸

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataPaul Langevin on Wikidata
2
WikipediaPaul Langevin on Wikipedia
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WikidataPaul Langevin: education, on Wikidata
4
WikidataPaul Langevin: Worked at ESPCI Paris, PSL University, on Wikidata
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WikidataPaul Langevin: Founded EDP Sciences, on Wikidata
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WikidataPaul Langevin: Founded La Pensée, on Wikidata
7
WikidataPaul Langevin: Founded Union rationaliste, on Wikidata
8
WikidataPaul Langevin: Member, on Wikidata
9
WikidataPaul Langevin: Chair, 7th Solvay Conference on Physics, on Wikidata
10
WikidataPaul Langevin: Chair, 6th Solvay Conference on Physics, on Wikidata
11
WikidataPaul Langevin: Chair, Union rationaliste, on Wikidata
12
WikidataPaul Langevin: occupation, on Wikidata
13
WikidataPaul Langevin: notable work, on Wikidata
14
WikidataPaul Langevin: place of birth, on Wikidata
15
WikidataPaul Langevin: place of death, on Wikidata
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WikidataPaul Langevin: citizenship, on Wikidata
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WikidataPaul Langevin: spouse, on Wikidata
18
WikidataPaul Langevin: award, on Wikidata
19
Wikidataaward, as reported
20
Wikidataaward, as reported
21
Wikidataaward, as reported by Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas
22
Wikidataaward, as reported
23
WikidataEDP Sciences, Founder
24
WikidataLa Pensée, Founder
25
Wikimedia CommonsPaul Langevin photo by Henri Manuel, CC BY 4.0