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Pierre Gouin, S.J. (1917–2005)

Pierre Gouin in 1960

Pierre Gouin's unique personality touched all those fortunate enough to encounter him, for he was a warm and wise man of intense dedication equally to science and to the poor. In 1956 he founded the Geophysical Observatory of Addis Ababa (GOAA), and over the next 22 years he built up its remote facilities in seismology, geomagnetism, and gravity studies to recognized standards. Providence, too, arranged for his observatory to be located on a tectonic triple-junction, where the African Rift system meets with the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden seafloor spreading zones.

Pierre was born 13 September 1917 in Champlain, Province du Québec, Canada. Educated by the Jesuits in Montréal, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1937. In 1946, he commenced his two-year regency in Ethiopia, teaching physics at Tafari Makonnen Secondary School. In 1948 he commenced three years of theological studies at Weston College, during which he also obtained a diploma in electronics. Pierre was ordained a priest by Paul-Émile Leger, Archbishop of Montréal, 1 July 1951. He went on during 1953–54 to study for a M.Sc. in physics at Boston College, majoring in seismology under the tutelage of Daniel Linnehan, S.J.

Immediately afterward, Pierre was posted to teach physics in the newly founded University College of Addis Ababa (UCAA). Emperor Haile Selassie had decided that higher education in Ethiopia would be free of Cold War influences, and he selected French-Canadian Jesuits to administer his college. They scrupulously obeyed a strict stipulation against clerical dress and proselytizing. The Jesuit president and his professors, and Pierre . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Paul Mohr and William H. K. Lee

Tonagharraun, Corrandulla
Co. Galway, Ireland
U.S. Geological Survey (retired)
Menlo Park, CA 94025 USA