François Gonnessiat (May 22, 1856 (Nurieux-Volognat)–October 18, 1934) was a Frenchastronomer, observer ofcomets and discoverer of twominor planets.^[2][3]

He worked at the Observatory ofLyon. In 1889 he won theLalande Prize for astronomy from theFrench Academy of Sciences; 1901 became director of the Quito (Ecuador) Observatory for the purpose of makinggeodetic measurements. He became a well known and respected member of the academic scene of the city, where a street is named after him. From 1908 to 1931, he was director of theAlgiers Observatory where one of his colleagues wasBenjamin Jekhovsky.^[3] He was also director of theQuito Astronomical Observatory.^[2]

The asteroid1177 Gonnessia was named in his memory (H 109).^[2]

• The obituary notice incorrectly states that he was director of the Algiers Observatory only until 1916,^[3] rather than 1931.^[4]

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