Physics professor Stavros Katsanevas passed away today at the age of 69 from chronic health problems. He was director of the European Gravitational Observatory and professor at the University of Paris 7.

His important work is reflected in his extensive resume. The same tireless worker of his science and political personality has always followed the academic, scientific and political events in Greece. Significantly, in addition to his scientific positions, he was elected a member of the first administrative council of the University of Athens, and was also a member of the analytical center SYRIZA-PS. “In the country, we see the discrediting of politics, because every politician comes to the fore, thinking that he has his own solution to problems” Stavros Katsanevas underlined the “K” on May 11, 2014.

“Polarization destroys solutions. And polarization is constantly imposed on Greek reality, as a result of which problems are not solved. This is a perversion, a disease, ”he said in the same interview with K. The same pathogenesis is observed in universities. “Once upon a time, the university trained personnel for political action in the country. This is until the first years of the post-colonial period, from the 80s it stops. Since then, the parties see the university as a factory for the production of followers, not to mention poster-posters, ”he added.

Stavros Katsanevas was born in Athens in 1953. In 1975 he graduated from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Athens and in 1979 received his PhD from the University of Orsay. In 1982, he was elected lecturer and then assistant professor at the University of Athens. In 1996 he was elected professor at the University of Lyon. In 2000 he was awarded the Athens Academy Prize for his work on supersymmetry, in 2002 he became Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and Particles (IN2P3) CNRS, responsible for particle astrophysics at the national level. In 2004 he was elected professor at the University of Paris Denis Diderot, in 2006 coordinator of the network of research organizations (ERANET) for particle astrophysics ASPERA, in 2012 he was awarded the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit, in 2014 he received as director of the Laboratory of Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology (CNRS, Denis Diderot University of Paris, CEA, Paris Observatory).