Jorge Sahade: First Latin American IAU President

Abstract

Prof. Jorge Sahade (1915–2012) was the first Latin American President of the International Astronomical Union (1985–1988). From then on, he had a very active participation as president, vice-president, and organizing committee member of several Commissions and Divisions of the IAU, related to stellar astrophysics and exchange of astronomers. Prof. J. Sahade was born in Argentina and was one of the first students graduated in astronomy at the National University of La Plata. He served as director of the Astronomical Observatory of Córdoba (1953–1955) and of the Observatory of La Plata (1968–1969). He was the first Dean of the Faculty of Exact Sciences of the National University of La Plata. He promoted the purchase of a 2.15-m diameter telescope, today located in the Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito, San Juan, Argentina. He founded the Institute of Astronomy and Physics of Space (IAFE) in Buenos Aires and was its first director (1971–1974). He was also director of the “Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales” (the Argentina Space Activity Agency) and promoted the inclusion of Argentina as a partnership of the Gemini Observatory. Prof. Sahade also focused on the development of the astronomy in Latin America and this led to the creation of the “Liga Latinoamericana de Astronomía” (nowadays LIADA).

His research field was interacting binary systems and he published about 150 papers, among them is the well-known discovery of the “Struve-Sahade effect”. I met him when he was 70 years old; he was a very enthusiastic astronomer, who travellled everywhere to promote the astronomy in Latin America (Argentina, Perú, Honduras). Among his last dreams was the creation of a Latin American Institute to develop and enhance astrophysics in South and Central America, the revival of UV astronomy and many more impressive works that he would have liked to end and publish.