Jean-Claude Pecker

Professor Jean-Claude Pecker
Jean-Claude Pecker in 1970
Born	(1923-05-10)10 May 1923 Reims, France
Died	20 February 2020(2020-02-20) (aged 96) Île d'Yeu, France
Nationality	French
Education	Lycée Michel-de-Montaigne
Alma mater	École normale supérieure University of Bordeaux University of Grenoble
Awards	Prix Jules Janssen (1957) Three Physicists Prize (1969) Commander of the Legion of Honour Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit Commander of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
Scientific career
Fields	Theoretical astrophysics
Institutions	Professor emeritus at the Collège de France, Paris

Jean-Claude Pecker (10 May 1923 – 20 February 2020)^[1] was a French astronomer, astrophysicist and author, member of the French Academy of Sciences and director of the Nice Observatory. He served as the secretary-general of the International Astronomical Union from 1964 to 1967. Pecker was the President of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French amateur astronomical society, from 1973–1976.^[2] He was awarded the Prix Jules Janssen by the French Astronomical Society in 1967. A minor planet (1629 Pecker) is named after him.^[3] Pecker was a vocal opponent of astrology and pseudo-science^[4][5] and was the president of the Association française pour l'information scientifique (AFIS), a skeptical organisation which promotes scientific enquiry in the face of quackery and obscurantism.