Louis Leprince-Ringuet, Nuclear Physicist (1901-2000, Year of Entry: 1920)

World-renowned pioneer of atomism Louis Leprince-Ringuet discovered his passion for nuclear physics following an encounter with Maurice de Broglie. An expert in cosmic rays, he created a nuclear research laboratory and made a number of discoveries, including that of the "U meson". A graduate of École Polytechnique and École Supérieure d'Électricité (Supélec), he worked as a chief telegraph engineer in the 1920s, then as a specialist in the installation of submarine cables and Commissioner for Atomic Energy from 1951 to 1971. He returned to l’X as a physics professor and also taught at the Collège de France. This man of conviction was a storyteller, painter, musician, essayist and member of the Académie Française and the French Academy of Sciences. Leprince-Ringuet also presided over the Jeunesses Musicales de France, the Catholic Union of French Scientists and the French Organization of the European Movement.