1
11 février 1921
Une forte hérédité familiale
Jacques Friedel naît à Paris le 11 février 1921 dans une famille de prestigieux scientifiques dont la lignée remonte à son arrière-grand-père paternel. Celui-ci, Charles Friedel (1832-1899), professeur de chimie à la Sorbonne, fut en effet à l'origine de l’école de chimie de Paris. Son nom est repris dans les manuels de chimie pour la réaction de Friedel-Kraft (réaction catalytique à la base du cracking du pétrole). Son fils, Georges Friedel (1865-1933), grand-père de Jacques, était un célèbre cristallographe, spécialiste des cristaux liquides. Il fut également directeur de l'école des mines de Saint-Etienne, puis professeur à Strasbourg. Enfin, Edmond Friedel (1895-1972), son père, était un géologue reconnu. Il fut directeur de l'école des mines de Paris, ainsi que le créateur de l'actuel Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières (BRGM).
Des études géographiquement variées
Jacques Friedel effectue successivement sa scolarité au lycée Fustel-de-Coulanges à Strasbourg (1931-1933), au collège de Béthune (1933-1936), au lycée Louis-le-Grand à Paris où lui sont enseignées les mathématiques (1936-1938), et enfin au lycée Henri-IV, également à Paris, où il étudie la philosophie ainsi que l’anglais (1938-1939).
Après l’obtention de son baccalauréat, il suit à Bordeaux, au lycée Montaigne (1939-1940) puis à Lyon, au lycée du Parc (1940-1942) les classes préparatoires à l’entrée dans les écoles d’ingénieurs.
La Seconde Guerre mondiale le contraint à interrompre ses études pendant deux ans. Il suit ensuite les enseignements de l’école polytechnique (1944-1946) puis de l’école des mines de Paris (1946-1948). Pensant un temps s’orienter vers la recherche universitaire, il obtient une licence d’enseignement en mathématiques à l’université de Paris en 1949 et commence une recherche expérimentale au laboratoire de métallurgie de l’école des mines, sous la direction de Charles Crussard.
Cette même année 1949, Jacques Friedel quitte la France pour passer trois ans en Angleterre, à l’université de Bristol, afin de profiter du savoir du professeur Nevill Mott, futur lauréat du prix Nobel. Il en revient en 1952 titulaire d’un Ph. D. en physique des solides. Pour parachever sa formation, il prépare une thèse de doctorat d’état qu’il obtient en 1954.
Une carrière d’enseignant-chercheur
Jacques Friedel débute comme ingénieur ordinaire avant de devenir ingénieur en chef du corps des mines, affecté à la recherche scientifique au Centre de recherches métallurgiques de l’école des mines de Paris de 1948 à 1956. Il devient par la suite maître de conférences puis professeur à l’université de Paris à partir de 1956. A ce titre, il travaille d'abord au laboratoire de l’école des mines de 1956 à 1959, puis à Orsay à partir de cette dernière date. Il achève sa carrière comme professeur de physique (classe exceptionnelle) à l’université Paris-Sud, au laboratoire de physique des solides.
Un personnage reconnu
La carrière de Jacques Friedel lui a valu une grande reconnaissance tant sur le plan national que sur le plan international. Celle-ci s’est traduite par de nombreux honneurs et distinctions. Il est ainsi grand officier de la Légion d’honneur et commandeur de l’Ordre du mérite.
Il a aussi exercé plusieurs fonctions honorifiques, telles que la présidence du Comité consultatif pour la recherche scientifique et technique (1978-1981), la présidence de la section 21 du Comité consultatif des universités (1975-1980), la présidence de l’Observatoire national de la lecture (1994-2001). Il est membre émérite de l’Académie des technologies et membre de la Société française de physique. Elu à l’Académie des sciences en 1977, il en est vice-président en 1991 et président de 1992 à 1994.
Jacques Friedel a en outre été nommé membre d’honneur d’un certain nombre de prestigieuses institutions étrangères, telles que l’American Academy of Arts and Sciences, à Boston (états-Unis), la Swedish Academy of Sciences (Suède), la Royal Society (Grande-Bretagne), la National Academy of Sciences (états-Unis), l’Académie Leopoldina (Allemagne), l’Académie royale des sciences de langue flamande (Belgique), l’Institute of Physics, à Londres (Grande-Bretagne), la Philosophical Society, à Cambridge (Grande-Bretagne), la Société royale des sciences de Liège (Belgique), l’American Physical Society (états-Unis), la Max-Planck Gesellschaft, à Stuttgart (Allemagne), l’Académie des sciences du Brésil, et enfin l'European Physical Society dont il a été président.
De nombreuses récompenses ont aussi jalonné la carrière de Jacques Friedel, telles que les prix Ancel, Robin et Holweck de la Société française de physique, la médaille d’or du CNRS, la distinction de docteur honoris causa qui lui a été décernée par les universités de Bristol, de Cambridge, de Genève, de Zagreb et par l’école polytechnique de Lausanne, le prix d’Aumale et, avec André Guinier et Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, le prix Cognac-Jay de l’Académie des sciences, la médaille Rosenhain de l’Institute of Metals de Londres, le Hume Rothery Award de l’American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, le prix Dannie Heineman de l’Académie des sciences de Göttingen (Allemagne), la médaille d’or Acta Métallurgica, la médaille d’or de la Société de métallurgie, le Von Hippel award de la Material Research Society, et enfin le prix Italgas des matériaux (Turin).
Enfin, Jacques Friedel a également exercé des responsabilités dans le domaine privé. Il a ainsi été président de l’Association Bernard-Grégory pour l’aide à l’embauche des scientifiques formés par la recherche et président du conseil scientifique de France Télécom de 1992 à 1995.
Les travaux de Jacques Friedel
Au cours de sa carrière, Jacques Friedel a mené de nombreuses recherches théoriques sur la structure électronique des solides et notamment des alliages métalliques, sur la plasticité des cristaux et sur les surfaces des agrégats. Il a en outre apporté son aide à de très nombreux chercheurs pour la poursuite ou la publication de leurs propres travaux. Il a publié lui-même un grand nombre d’articles et de travaux. Son travail le plus important reste néanmoins son ouvrage de référence, Les Dislocations, publié en 1956 (2e édition en 1964). À cela, il faut ajouter que Jacques Friedel a également rédigé un ouvrage relatant l’histoire de sa famille, Graine de mandarin, publié en 1994.
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