Jean-Pierre Demailly was a complex geometry mathematician from France. He was a permanent member of the French Academy of Sciences and a professor at the Université Grenoble Alpes. In 1983, Demailly was appointed as a professor at the Université Grenoble Alpes. From 1998 to 2006, he was the editor-in-chief of Annales de l’Institut Fourier, and from 2010 to 2015, he was the editor-in-chief of Comptes Rendus Mathématique. From 1997 until 2002, he worked as an editor for Inventiones Mathematicae.

Professor Demailly visited China multiple times. From 18-22 December 2017, Professor Demailly,Dusa McDuff (a professor at Columbia University), and Frances Kirwan (a professor at Oxford University) were invited by Professor Shing-Tung Yau (an internationally renowned mathematician, a professor at Harvard University) for participating in the 8th Tsinghua Sanya International Mathematics Forum, including over 110 mathematicians from overseas and representatives of teachers and students from sister universities and research institutions at home and abroad.

In the lecture, Professor Demailly as the organizer presided over a series of academic masters lectures related to Global Aspects of Projective and Kähler Geometry.

During the seminar, Professor Demailly delivered inspiring reports on Global Aspects of Projective and Kähler Geometry and conducted in-depth communication with scholars. His approachable personality and very distinctive scholarly demeanor has made a very deep impression on us.

During the break time, Professor Yau invited Professor Demailly and other Masters to plant a fruit tree in the "Masters Garden", respectively, as a souvenir. Professor Demailly planted a Wampee Tree by himself, and happily took a picture with it. Now the Wampee Tree is luxuriant and fruitful.

Professor Demailly is also a table tennis lover. We were honorable to witness his skills while he was playing here.“The French warrior who bravely entered the kingdom of table tennis is not inferior to other players in his vigorous posture, as well as fairly impressive table tennis skills”.

After the lecture, Prof.Demailly accepted our interview. He mentioned the natural scenery of Sanya and the personal experience at TSIMF, which made a deep impression on him. After the interview, Prof.Demailly left a message with his signature whilst praising "TSIMF" as an excellent place to do research.

“Things are so much sweeter when they have an ending; things are so much more painful when they can be ripped away.” 

—Rest in peace.

Editor:HE Shouxi

English translator:WU Xianying

Proofreader: GAO Xuan

21 March,2022，TSIMF