May 14, 2026. World science has suffered a heavy loss. At the age of 88, Jean Bonnin, an outstanding scientist, a great friend of our country, a European seismologist who held leadership positions at the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, has passed away.

Jean Bonnin made a significant contribution to the development of geophysics and geodynamics. He was among the authors of the theory of plate tectonics – one of the most revolutionary theories of the 20th century. Working in close collaboration with other renowned geologists and geophysicists, he created a fundamentally new concept and model of the structure of the Earth's lithosphere/asthenosphere.

Since 1979, Jean Bonnin worked at the Institute of Physics of the Earth of Strasbourg University, France. He was awarded the title of honorary professor of the institute. The scientist's career spanned several areas of interest, including global tectonics and lithospheric deformation, data management, and seismicity. A significant part of his activity was devoted to problems related to the use of data in solid Earth physics. In 2004, he was awarded the international CODATA Prize, from the Committee on Data of the International Science Council, for his contributions to this field.

During his tenure as Secretary General of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, he transformed this scientific organization into a major participant in international research in the field of seismology and united the efforts of many European seismological institutes.

In recent years, the scientist worked on issues related to the risk management of major natural disasters (especially earthquakes) and the corresponding response measures of civil authorities and society, striving to improve the dialogue between scientists/engineers and decision-makers.

Professor Bonnin actively participated in joint work with Russian scientists to improve and update the "Extremum" system, designed to assess damage from earthquakes and secondary hazardous processes in emergency situations on a global scale. The system was developed in the 1990s through the joint efforts of specialists from the Center for Extreme Situations Research (CESR), the Seismological Center of the Sergeev Institute of Environmental Geoscience RAS, and organizations within the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters.

For many years, Jean Bonnin was President of EDNES (Earth Data Network for Education and Scientific Exchange), an organization that implemented numerous projects, combining activities to adapt information society technologies for processing and studying scientific and technical data. Russian scientists actively participated in many projects, including as part of the CODATA task force "Virtual Laboratories for Earth and Environmental Sciences".

We express our deep condolences to the family and loved ones of Jean Bonnin. The memory of this talented scientist, bright and charming person, kind colleague and friend, will forever remain in our hearts!

Entry from the guest book of the GC RAS

«C’est toujours un grand plaisir pour moi de visiter le Geophysical Center. J’y ai tant d’amis depuis si longtemps que je m’y sens presque chez moi. Les séjours, même prolongés, y sont toujours trop courts. De plus, l’activité scientifique y est très attrayante: j’y apprends toujours beaucoup de choses, dans beaucoup de domaines. Les résultats y sont très ouverts et c’est toujours très roboratif.

Je repars dans mon pays toujours avec un certain regret, mais aussi toujours plein de projets pour l’avenir.

I thank very much all the staff for the extremely warm welcome and kindness.

A la prochaine fois... avec beaucoup de plaisir

Jean Bonnin 01 Mars 2006»

"It is always a great pleasure for me to visit the Geophysical Center. I have so many friends there for such a long time that I feel almost at home there. Visits, even lengthy ones, are always too short.

Moreover, the scientific activity there is very attractive: I always learn many new things, in many fields. The results there are very open, and that is always very invigorating.

I always leave for my country with a certain regret, but also always full of projects for the future.

I thank very much all the staff for the extremely warm welcome and kindness.

Until next time... with great pleasure

Jean Bonnin, March 1, 2006".

Professor Jean Bonnin.