An obituary notice for Henri Cartan just came my way. It seemed appropriate to share portions of it here. Sadly, -- Fred ------ Extracts from Original Message ------ Received: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:48:37 AM EDT From: The Electronic IMU Newsletter <imu-net@mathunion.org> ... Henri Cartan (1904-2008) The world has lost one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century. Henri Cartan, a legendary figure in mathematics, died in Paris on 13 August, at the age of 104 years. The son of the great mathematician Elie Cartan, his contributions to mathematics were fundamental, from several complex variables to algebraic topology and homological algebra. A member of the Bourbaki group, his participation in the rejuvenation of the French mathematical school was essential, in particular through his seminar held at the École Normale Supérieure. His roles as teacher and mentor were also exceptional, and were felt well beyond national boundaries. ... An interview of Henri Cartan conducted in March, 1999, and published in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, may be found at http://www.ams.org/notices/199907/fea-cartan.pdf On-line obituaries may be found at http://www.zeit.de/online/2008/34/henri-cartan-nachruf Memorial Web sites for Henri Cartan French Academie des Sciences: http://www.academie-sciences.fr/membres/C/Cartan_Henri.htm Société Mathématique de France: http://smf.emath.fr/en/VieSociete/Rencontres/JourneeCartan/NoticeCartan.html 100th issue of the Gazette des Mathématiciens, the news publication of Société Mathématique de France, carried some tributes to Cartan, two of which are reproduced in September 2004 issue of the European Mathematical Society Newsletter http://www.emis.de/newsletter/archive_contents.html#nl_53 ...