Tribute to Nicolas Bergeron (1975 – 2024)

The IHES community is deeply saddened by Nicolas Bergeron‘s passing. Close to IHES, Nicolas Bergeron was a Professor at Sorbonne University and a member of the Department of Mathematics and Applications at École Normale Supérieure – Paris Sciences & Lettres. As the Editor-in-Chief of Publications mathématiques de l’IHES from 2019 to 2022, he worked towards transitioning this prestigious journal to diamond open access.

In his research, Nicolas Bergeron was particularly interested in the connections between geometry and number theory. Alongside Zhiyuan Li, John Millson, and Colette Moeglin, he notably proved the Lefschetz-Noether conjecture for quasi-polarized K3 surface moduli spaces.

Nicolas Bergeron was an invited speaker at the European Congress of Mathematics in 2016 and the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2018. In 2023, he was awarded the State Funded Prize by the Academy of Sciences.

Furthermore, Nicolas Bergeron was deeply involved in teaching and disseminating mathematics. Passionate about Henri Poincaré’s work, he collaborated on the Analysis Situs project and on the Uniformization of Riemann Surfaces book editing within the Henri Paul de Saint-Gervais groupe. In 2020, he contributed to the production of the web series “Voyages au pays des maths” broadcasted on arte.tv.

Statement from Emmanuel Ullmo, Director of IHES:

“It is with infinite sadness that I learnt of the passing of Nicolas Bergeron. In addition to being a talented and creative geometer, Nicolas was a delightful human being appreciated by all, who contributed greatly to the mathematical community. My thoughts go out to his family and loved ones.”

Statement from Hugo Duminil-Copin, Permanent Professor at IHES:

“Nicolas Bergeron was truly one of the pillars of the French mathematical community. His remarkable ethics, exceptional human qualities and unwavering commitment were admired by all. The loss of our colleague and friend leaves a deep void that we feel with great sorrow.”