Félix Chemla Lamèch

Félix was born in Ariana (Tunis) and traveled to Greece in the 1920s where he built the Corfu Observatory to study the Moon, Saturn, and other astronomical phenomena. His first publication was about Saturn in 1926 in collaboration with Greek polymath Theodore Stephanides. He continued to live in Greece until 1929. He moved to France to the Toulouse Meteorological Service at the Garonne Observatory. He frequently returned to Greece but permanently lived in France. On 31 July 1934 he published his first map of the Moon honoring his colleagues from Corfu, Greece. When World War II broke out he joined the French Army. After the war, the Corfu Observatory was decommissioned because it was bombed and the Astronomical Society of Greece ceased operations. Félix continued his work and published a detailed map of the Moon in 1955. He died in Paris in 1962. A street in Corfu was named after him.

Biography

Félix was born in Ariana and served France during World War I. He continued his studies in Paris and traveled to Greece in 1923. He spent a large portion of his life in Greece. He erected the Corfu Observatory in 1924 and was the observatory's first director. In 1926, he began building a map of the moon based on drawings he made with the telescope. Félix worked with notable polymath Theodore Stephanides, and on 4 May 1926 they published an article together about Saturn. Félix drew the planet and its rings. That same year Félix founded the Greek Astronomical Society of Greece which was authorized by the President of the Hellenic Republic Theodoros Pangalos who visited the observatory along with Archbishop Athinagoras. Director of the Athens Observatory, Demetrios Eginitis, was named honorary president, while the Metropolitan of Corfu, Athenagoras, became an honorary member.

On 9 July 1927 Félix gave a lecture About Comets, Their Laws, and Their Origin at the summer theater called Phoenix. The theme dealt with the origin of the universe. By September 1927, Félix was criticized by the engineer and theologian P. Kokkolis in the newspaper Corkyraiki Elpis regarding the origin of the universe. He accused Félix of calling Moses a liar. On 4 March 1928 the Greek Astronomical Society of Corfu began publishing Ουρανία (Urania) a journal associated with the astronomical society. In July 1928, the local ecclesiastical community attacked Félix once again in the publication Agios Spyridon directed by Archimandrite Parthenios Pollakis. The cause of the attack were the popular astronomy lectures and articles published by Félix about the creation of the universe based on scientific evidence. Félix's activity was defended by a portion of the local press. By early 1929, Félix left Corfu taking with him critical astronomical instruments which almost led to the dissolution of the observatory. Félix returned with the equipment and continued his partnership with the observatory. Around the same period, Félix became the head of the Toulouse Meteorological Service at the Garonne Observatory but frequently returned to Corfu.

While he was in France he completed a new map of the Moon with a 135-millimeter telescope. The map was published in France on 31 July 1934. Félix named five lunar craters after notable people he knew from Corfu: Kefallinos 4119, Moumouris 896, Stephanidis 302, Vali Kogevina 4692, Voutinas 4019 and his own name. The names were never accepted by the International Astronomical Union but a street in Corfu was named after Félix and Spyros Voutsina (Spiroi Voitsina).

Because of the declaration of war, Félix enlisted as a volunteer in the French army, and after the invasion of France, he followed the French army to Africa. He survived the war. His complete map of the Moon was published in 1955. In the library of the observatory of Toulouse, there is a handwritten study by him entitled Etudes Monographiques (no. 5408) and dated 12 September 1956, attached to it is a series of diagrams of the lunar formations with the marking that they were made mainly in Corfu. He resumed his scientific activity and spent the last years of his life in a deserted villa in the Paris suburb of Aulney-sous-Bois. Later in life he suffered from heart disease and had no contact with anyone. He died in 1962.