Dear Valerie and Sacha,
Thank you for informing the MX community of this very sad news.
With the passing away of Andre, it is a huge body of experience
in growing and handling crystals, and in getting the best diffraction
data out of them, that disappears, as well as a delightfully original
person.
I will never forget the twinkle of child-like playful joy when he
once explained to me the sophisticated sequence of ingenious tricks by
which he had succeeded in reproducibly obtaining beautifully ordered
cryo-cooled crystals by eliminating one after the other a variety of
suboptimalities all along the way, one of them consisting of finding
the best angle between the plane of the loop and the surface of the
liquid when taking the crystal out through a layer of oil. His sense
of deep fun about finding ways to "keep trying to do even better" was
most contagious and exhilarating. I am sure that this spirit in him is
still alive in all those who worked with him.
Ah ... what a pity and what a loss! My heartfelt condolences to
his family and friends.
Gerard.
--
On Fri, Jan 24, 2025 at 06:14:24PM +0100, Alexandre Ourjoumtsev wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> for those (I expect, many of you) who knew André Mitschler, I resubmit the
> message below.
>
> Sad news. It was a great and non-trivial person.
>
> With best wishes,
>
> Sacha Urzhumtsev
>
> = = = =
>
> From: Valerie LAMOUR <lamo...@igbmc.fr>
> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2025 4:23 PM
> Subject: André Mitschler, former crystallography engineer in the BSI
> department
>
> André Mitschler est décédé le 5 Décembre, à l’âge de 83 ans.
>
> André était un cristallographe expérimental hors pair. Il a débuté en
> recherche dans le laboratoire du Prof Weiss où il a eu la charge du premier
> diffractomètre à RX de l’époque. En 1967, a entamé une fructueuse
> collaboration avec Dino Moras qui a pu bénéficier de son expertise et son
> adresse expérimentale pour sa thèse de 3 e cycle. Leurs liens ne se sont
> jamais rompus. En 1981 Il a rejoint le laboratoire de cristallographie de
> Dino, nouvellement créé à l’IBMC. Il y a effectué le reste d’une fructueuse
> carrière d’ingénieur CNRS qui, en 1994, s’est poursuivie à l’IGBMC, un nouvel
> institut créé à Illkirch avec un important soutien de l’industrie
> pharmaceutique.
>
> En 1996, il a rejoint le groupe d’Alberto Podjarny, pour travailler dans la
> détermination de la structure de l’Aldose Reductase humaine. Les cristaux
> diffractaient à une résolution extrêmement haute (0.6 Angstroms). La mesure
> des données a demandé des nouveaux développements et l’utilisation des
> meilleures lignes synchrotron du monde. André était à la hauteur du défi,
> avec la capacité de passer de longues heures à monter et tester
> expérimentalement des cristaux. Il pouvait travailler 72 heures d’affilée
> dans le synchrotron d'Argonne National Lab. Le travail a culminé en 2008,
> avec la publication d’un mécanisme enzymatique inattendu.
>
> En 1999, il a obtenu la médaille de Cristal du CNRS, en reconnaissance de ses
> travaux en cristallographie expérimentale.
>
> André était aussi un passionné de l’histoire militaire, et a fait une
> carrière dans l’armée jusqu’à rang de colonel dans la cavalerie.
>
> Sa passion par la recherche, sa force de travail et son dévouement pour
> l’excellence expérimentale sont un exemple à suivre par tous les jeunes
> chercheurs.
>
> ////
>
> André Mitschler passed away on December 5th at the age of 83.
>
> André was an outstanding experimental crystallographer. He began his research
> career in Professor Weiss's laboratory, where he was responsible for the
> first X-ray diffractometer at the time. In 1967, he started a fruitful
> collaboration with Dino Moras, whose doctoral work benefited greatly from
> André's expertise and experimental skill. Their professional ties endured
> throughout their lives.
>
> In 1981, André joined Dino’s newly established crystallography laboratory at
> IBMC, where he spent the remainder of a productive career as a CNRS engineer.
> In 1994, he continued his work at IGBMC, a new institute in Illkirch
> supported by the pharmaceutical industry.
>
> In 1996, André joined Alberto Podjarny’s group to work on determining the
> structure of human aldose reductase. The crystals diffracted at an
> exceptionally high resolution (0.6 Å), which required innovative developments
> and access to the world's most advanced synchrotron beamlines. André rose to
> the challenge, demonstrating his ability to spend long hours preparing and
> experimentally testing crystals. He worked tirelessly, including 72-hour
> shifts at the Argonne National Laboratory synchrotron. This effort culminated
> in 2008 with the publication of an unexpected enzymatic mechanism.
>
> In 1999, André was awarded the CNRS Crystal Medal in recognition of his
> contributions to experimental crystallography.
>
> André was also a military history enthusiast and pursued a parallel career in
> the army, rising to the rank of colonel in the cavalry.
>
> His passion for research, tireless work ethic, and dedication to experimental
> excellence remain an inspiration for young researchers.
>
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