John Stefanos Paraskevopoulos | |
|---|---|
Ιωάννης Στέφανος Παρασκευόπουλος | |
 John S. Paraskevopoulos (circa 1940) | |
| Born | Ioannis Stefanos Paraskevopoulos June 20 1889 |
| Died | March 15 1951 (aged 61) |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Other names | John Paras |
| Citizenship | |
| Alma mater | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens |
| Spouse | |
| Awards | Commander of the Phoenix |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astronomy |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Variability in absorption spectra |
| Doctoral advisor | Timoleon Argyropoulos |
John Stefanos Paraskevopoulos (Greek: Ιωάννης Στέφανος Παρασκευόπουλος; June 20, 1889 – March 15, 1951) also known as John Paras, was a Greek and South Africanastronomer. He spent most of his career in theBoyden Observatory, for the establishment of which he played a crusial role.
He was born inPiraeus,Kingdom of Greece and graduated from theUniversity of Athens, where he obtained his PhD in physics in 1910, under the supervision ofTimoleon A. Argyropoulos.[2] His thesis was entitled "Variability in absorption spectra". After his graduation he spent several years as laboratory assistant in Physics and Chemistry at the University of Athens, withKing George II attending laboratory courses under him at that time.[3]
His scientific career was interrupted by nine years of military service in theGreek army during theBalkan Wars andWorld War I.[3] This prevented him proceeding abroad with a scholarship he had won in 1912.[4] He ended his military career with the rank ofFirst Lieutenant and received multiple war medals including thirteenbars for battles in which he had fought. During part of his military service he was an instructor in Navigation at theNational Observatory of Athens.[3] He worked as an assistant of Prof.Demetrios Eginitis at the National Observatory of Athens, and in 1919, he went to the US with a two-year fellowship, spending part of that time working atYerkes Observatory. There he met and married Dorothy W. Block. He also worked for several months at theMount Wilson Observatory and at theUnited States Weather Bureau inWashington D.C..[3]
In 1921, he returned to Athens where he became head of the astronomy department of theNational Observatory of Athens with a goal to build a large telescope in Greece. However, due to theGreco-Turkish War during that period and the political instability that followed it soon became evident that the large telescope for the observatory would not materialise.
In September 1923, Dr Paras accepted an offer from DrHarlow Shapley, to become the Superintendent of theHarvard Observatory's Southern Station. He left this post due to a lack of funding and went toArequipa,Peru to work at Boyden Station, a branch of Harvard Observatory, with a view to finding a more suitable location for it. The decision was made to move Boyden Station to theUnion of South Africa due to better weather conditions, and Paraskevopoulos served there as director ofBoyden Observatory inSouth Africa from 1927 to 1951, the year of his death. While in South Africa he was an extramural Professor of Astronomy at theUniversity of the Orange Free State and he was given ahonorary degree ofMaster of Arts fromHarvard University. In 1950, he was awarded the medal ofCommander ofOrder of the Phoenix, one of the greatest honours awarded by Greece.
John Paraskevopoulos was a member of multiple scientific societies, including theRoyal Astronomical Society, theAmerican Astronomical Society, theSouth African Association for the Advancement of Science and theSociete Astronomique de France.[5]
He co-discovered a couple ofcomets, includingC/1941 B2 (de Kock–Paraskevopoulos), which became visible with naked eye. The craterParaskevopoulos on theMoon and the asteroid5298 Paraskevopoulos are named after him.