We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of our colleague and friend Daniel Hubert on 1 September 2025..
Daniel has had a rich career in the Plasma Pole at DESPA and then LESIA. His research has covered a wide range of astrophysical topics, from the solar wind to its interaction with the Earth’s magnetic environment. His theoretical background has enabled him to tackle complex plasma physics problems such as the closure relations of the kinetic equations describing semi-collisional media. It has also enabled him to make a major contribution to a number of projects based on data collected by space missions (ISSEE, CLUSTER, Ulysses, WIND and STEREO) to which the laboratory has contributed. Daniel Hubert has also had several collaborations with international laboratories, such as the Geophysics Laboratory of the Institute of Physics at the University of St Petersburg (I. Poudovkine and A. Samsonov) and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Prague (V. Fiala), with which LIRA still has very close links (Solar Orbiter, Plasma Observatory).
After joining the theoretical physics department of the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris in 1966, he defended a postgraduate thesis there in 1968 under the supervision of Dr T. Kahan. In 1970 he joined the department of Professor Ylia Prigogine at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he worked on the N-body collision problem. He defended his thesis in 1975 in Paris.
Daniel Hubert has also had a long career in research management and teamwork. From July 1985 to the end of 2001 he was deputy director of DESPA during the terms of Michel Combes and Thérèse Encrenaz as directors. In 1991, he was interim director of the laboratory, following the election of Mr Combes as President of the Observatoire de Paris.
From August 2002 he was seconded to the Institute of Applied Mathematics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where he worked with Professor Bernie Shizgal and completed his academic career.
Daniel Hubert was characterised by his acute sense of humour and his derision of hierarchical power and the arrogance of ’bosses’. He used to lead the laboratory’s jogging around the Parc de Meudon and was a keen football fan. In scientific seminars and debates, he was discreet and stayed in the background, giving his speeches more weight. He had a knack for ferreting out the real issues that needed to be addressed as a matter of priority if projects were to move forward.
Always taking things calmly, he also knew how to be cheerful. You can still see him dancing in the computer room to the rhythm of the hammers on the printer, waiting for the listing of a programme he couldn’t get to work. Others were less patient. Music was one of his passions. On 5 March 2004, Philippe Zarka received the following e-mail which, in a few words, says a lot about Daniel : Philippe, Nougaro is dead, I don’t like it.
