Pierre Brissonneau (1927–2013)

Pierre Brissonneau passed away on August 4, 2013 at the age of 86. Pierre was born in Saint Agnant Les Marais, France, on April 19, 1927. A physicist and disciple of Louis Néel, he was a Professor at Grenoble Institute of Technology (formerly INPG) and an internationally famous researcher at LEG [today Grenoble Electrical Engineering Laboratory (G2Elab)]. He was an expert in magnetism, magnetic materials, and their applications in electrical engineering. He contributed to the development of new techniques for magnetic characterization, the improvement of electrical steels, and the design of original machines and devices based on modern permanent magnets. He was one of the founders of the international conferences SMM and 1&2DM workshop. He was also an expert within the IEC International Electrotechnical Commission on soft and hard magnetic materials. Throughout his activities, he fostered collaborations with industry, in particular, with the company Ugine Saint Chely d´Apcher (now ArcelorMittal). His 40 years of experience teaching, industrial collaboration, and research is logged in his famous book Magnetism and Magnetic Materials published in 1997 by Hermes.