Pierre Merlin, a French geographer and academic, died on February 3, 2026, at the age of 88.
Born in Metz on May 6, 1937, he studied at the Prytanée national militaire, the Paris Institute of Statistics and the École polytechnique before receiving his doctorate from the University of Paris in 1963. He earned a Doctorat d’Etat in 1966 with a thesis on Paris transport and geographie économique et sociale.
In 1976, he was elected president of Paris 8 University, and the following year he was briefly held captive during political turmoil on campus.
Pierre Merlin (6 May 1937 – 3 February 2026) was a French geographer and academic.