A tribute to Philippe Rossi

Publication of this special volume of the Bulletin de la Societe geologique de France, dedicated to the evolution of the southern segment of the European Variscan chain, is an opportunity for the French community of Geosciences to pay a friendly honoring tribute to Philippe Rossi, a tireless promoter of geology within the important institution that is the Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres (BRGM). After his secondary studies at the Lycee J.B. Corot in Savigny-sur-Orge, Philippe Rossi discovered geology at the Universite Paris-Sud (Orsay), where he defended in 1975 a Doctorat thesis entitled: “ Geologie et gitologie du Cerro San Cristobal Logrosan, Caceres, Espagne”. In the wake of his thesis, Philippe joined the BRGM where he went, from the 1980s, to play a prominent role as both a geologist specialist of the Variscan chain in Europe, and a key player of the evolution and accomplishment of the French mapping program (Programme de la Carte Geologique de la France). First of all, Philippe is recognized in our community as a researcher enthusiast about the petrologic and geodynamic evolution of the European Variscan chain. In 1986, he defended a Doctorat d’Etat thesis at the Universite P. Sabatier (Toulouse) entitled: “ Organisation et genese d’un grand batholite orogenique : le batholite calco-alcalin de la Corse ”. In parallel, Philippe has led the cartographic synthesis of Corsica at 1/250 000 published in 1980, and was involved in the survey of 7 geological maps at 1/50 000 in Corsica, to be published between 1984 and 2012. In 2009, he and his colleagues published a remarkable synthesis of the Corso-Sardinian segment of the Variscan chain, updated in 2014 with regard to the place of Corsica in the Variscan “puzzle”. This work conducted in collaboration with A. Cocherie within the BRGM, but also with many French and …