In Memoriam François Englert (1932-2026)

Alexander Sevrin  about François Englert: More than forty years ago, I first met François and his lifelong companion Robert Brout. As a young PhD student at KU Leuven, I travelled every Friday to the ULB together with my supervisor and co-supervisor to discuss physics with François and Robert. They were exceptionally inspiring days, time and again filled with new insights and fresh ideas. Brout and Englert were already legendary at the time.

Together, in 1964, they developed a theoretical framework — the Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism — which, in a quantum mechanically consistent way, gives rest mass to all massive elementary particles. Their theory also predicted the existence of a new elementary particle with remarkable properties: the Brout-Englert-Higgs particle, often simply referred to as the Higgs boson. They later made groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of the early universe, insights that inspired others in the formulation of the theory of cosmic inflation.

The weekly meetings with Brout and Englert became an unforgettable source of inspiration for me, one that continues to resonate to this day. Even before completing my doctorate, I co-authored a scientific publication with Englert and my supervisors — perhaps not my most important article, but one of which I remain especially proud.

In 2005, I proposed to Jan Cornelis, then Vice-Rector for Research, that Brout and Englert should be awarded an honorary doctorate by the VUB. And so it came to pass, and both men always carried this distinction with great pride.

In 2011, Robert Brout passed away, shortly before the experimental discovery of the Brout-Englert-Higgs particle on 4 July 2012 at CERN — a groundbreaking achievement to which VUB scientists also made an important contribution. In 2013, François Englert and Peter Higgs were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, a first for Belgium and the culmination of an adventure that began in 1964.

With the passing of François Englert, Brussels once again loses one of its greatest and most remarkable figures. François is no longer with us, but our gratitude for everything he has given us remains.

The programme featured an extensive and highly engaging conversation between ULB Professor Englert and science journalist Koen Wauters (VRT). The discussion covered not only his work, but also his life, including how Englert, as a Jewish child, had to go into hiding to escape the Nazis. He also spoke about his studies in civil engineering at the ULB.“It was interesting, but not really for me,” Englert said. He then decided — with an engineering degree already in hand — to study physics and subsequently pursue a doctorate. Englert also reflected on the current academic climate, one in which he believed he would not have thrived had he been young today. “The pressure to publish encourages mainstream research, whereas in physics it is essential to move beyond the mainstream.”

How did he feel when he received the news that he had won the Nobel Prize together with the British physicist Peter Higgs? “Of course I was not unhappy. It is wonderful to win a Nobel Prize; it does not happen every day. But it was very unfortunate that Robert Brout was not there to share it.” Until the 1980s, Englert worked closely with Brout, and they remained friends until Brout’s death in 2011.