Guillaume Bigourdan

Bigourdan was born at Sistels, Tarn-et-Garonne to Pierre Bigourdan and Jeanne Carrière. When his teachers and local curate recognised his intelligence, he was transferred to a local boarding school in Valence d’Agen, where he excelled. In 1870, he received his Baccalauréat with mention of "Assez Bien". Together, the two had nine children. The entire family, including the Mouchez cousins, would frequently vacation in Sistels until the outbreak of the First World War, after which Bigourdan would vacation alone. During these vacations, he would farm his land and visit former classmates. He was fluent in Occitan, and spoke it when in Sistels. == Academic and scientific career ==

Bigourdan studied at the University of Toulouse from 1870, where he received a physics degree in 1874 and a mathematics degree in 1876. To finance these studies, he taught at a boarding school. Additionally, in 1894, Bigourdan discovered the asteroid 390 Alma. Bigourdan was an avid traveler for astronomical events; he took part in the observation of the transit of venus in Martinique in June 1882. On the same trip, he visited St Petersburg, Kraków, Berlin and Vienna. In 1892, he visited Joal, Senegal, to observe the total eclipse of the sun on 16 April 1893. He described a method for adjusting equatorial mount telescopes, which was known as "Bigourdan's method". Bigourdan won the Lalande Prize of the French Academy of Sciences in 1883 and in 1891, the Valz Prize of the same institution in 1886, and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1919. He was director of the Bureau International de l'Heure from 1919 to 1928. In 1919, he received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France, the French astronomical society. In 1924, he was made president of the Académie des Sciences and the Institute of France, after serving as its vice-president in 1923. He published in 1901. ==References==