Alexandre Schaumasse

Who was Alexandre Schaumasse?

Alexandre Schaumasse was a French astronomer.

He discovered the periodic comet 24P/Schaumasse. He also discovered two non-periodic comets: C/1913 J1 or 1913 II; and C/1917 H1 or 1917 II. He also discovered two asteroids.

Gaston Fayet, director of the Observatory of Nice, gave him the responsibility of the Chercheur de comètes, a 25 cm refractor offered by Germany to France after the World War 1, but it seems he never made serious observations with this instrument, which is "plenty of aberrations," according to the astronomer Robert Jonckheere. The 2 instruments he used most were the Grand Equatorial Coudé and the Petit Equatorial.

He was severely wounded in 1914 while serving in the French army in World War I and spent at least a year in hospital.

The building built in 1931 to house the Chercheur de comètes now bears his name.