Georges Lemaitre

Georges Lemaitre was a Belgian priest and astronomer born on July 17, 1894, in Charleroi, Belgium. He came from a devout Catholic family and showed early interest in both science and theology. During World War I, Lemaitre served as an artillery officer in the Belgian Army, earning the Military Cross for bravery. After the war, he pursued studies in mathematics and physics, becoming ordained as a priest in 1923. He furthered his education at Cambridge University under Sir Arthur Eddington and later at Harvard College Observatory with Harlow Shapley. Lemaitre is renowned for his work on the Big Bang Theory, proposing that the universe began from a "primeval atom." His 1927 paper introduced the concept of an expanding universe, which gained more attention after its translation into English in 1931. He was a key figure in developing the Friedman-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker metric, describing a homogeneous and isotropic universe. Lemaitre held various prestigious positions, including President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences from 1960 until his death on June 20, 1966. His contributions to cosmology remain foundational in modern astronomy.