User:Nicholas Wittmann-Plett/Gaston Armelin

Gaston Armelin (25 January 1860 – 18 November 1941) was a French poet and astronomer, creator of the Armelin's calendar.

Life
Born in Montauban on 25 January 1860. Spent his childhood in Normandy. At the age of 18, he moved to Paris. There he joined the Ministry of Armed Forces, where he worked for the rest of his life. Awarded the highest rank of Officer of the Legion of Honour. In 1887 he joined the Société astronomique de France, becoming its 42nd member. In 1890, he became a member of the Bureau of the Society. Served as Assistant Secretary of the Astronomical Society for ten years.

Armelin's calendar
On 28 February 1887, at the 2nd meeting of the Société astronomique de France, a competition for the creation of a world calendar was announced. In December 1887, the winner of the competition was identified as the calendar project prepared by Gaston Armelin. This project won the competition and the first prize of the French Astronomical Society. This draft calendar was then discussed at the French Academy of Sciences.

In 1937, the International Committee for the Reform of the Calendar submitted Armelin's draft calendar to the League of Nations, which was pre-approved by the governments of 70 countries. However, the outbreak of the Second World War put the work of reforming the world calendar on hold.

In 1954, the 18th session of the United Nations Economic and Social Council re-approved the draft world calendar, based on the Armelin calendar, which was proposed to the UN General Assembly for discussion. However, due to the Vatican's opposition to the calendar, the project was rejected.

Poetry

 * 1888 – "La Terre des aïeux"
 * 1890 – "La gloire des vaincus (Flammarion)"
 * 1892 – "L’Angelus de Jeanne"
 * 1897 – "Le livre d’or de 1870"
 * 1899 – "L’Archange des batailles"
 * 1903 – "Wagram"
 * 1904 – "Solstice, poésie dite à la fête du solstice d'été, sur la tour Eiffel, le 21 juin 1904"
 * 1904 – "Champs de bataille d’Helvétie"
 * 1905 – "Le Poème de la grande armée, Souabe, Autriche, Moravie (1805)"
 * 1920 – "Les Bucoliques de Virgile"
 * 1922 – "Girard de Vienne. Chanson de geste d’après le trouvère Bertrand de Bar (Carolingian cycle)"
 * 1926 – "L’Orléanide. La Cour du roi fou, poème historique"
 * 1929 – "Ogier le Danois et l’enfance de Roland (Carolingian cycle)"

Scientific works

 * Réforme du calendrier. // L'Astronomie, 1888, t. 7, p. 347—349.