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Every single web reference I have seen for Jacques Tits gives no indication that he had a middle name. All except one, which suggests his initials may have been J.L..

If this is so, what was his middle name? I have not been able to discover this.

Rodrigo de Azevedo
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Prime Mover
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  • He died a couple of days ago – J. W. Tanner Dec 07 '21 at 21:11
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    Jacques Leon Tits https://viaf.org/viaf/41847224/ – sand1 Dec 07 '21 at 21:22
  • @J.W.Tanner Yes I know, that is what indirectly instigated my question. – Prime Mover Dec 07 '21 at 23:16
  • @ Rodrigo de Azevedo I would even say more: it is only in the US that people have a midname... – Jean Marie Becker Dec 08 '21 at 18:15
  • @RodrigodeAzevedo Generally you make a fair point, but in this case the OP specifically referred to a source which used two initials, so it seems to me a reasonable question, not a cultural assumption. – Stephan Matthiesen Dec 09 '21 at 14:12
  • @JeanMarieBecker Other countries apart from the US have middle names. – Prime Mover Dec 09 '21 at 19:05
  • @RodrigodeAzevedo Because I saw a reference to "J.L. Tits". The L means he has a middle name. You can call it a "second first name" if you like, but as this is an English language website I prefer to use the English term. I am not renaming the question to suit a cultural whim. – Prime Mover Dec 10 '21 at 08:23
  • @RodrigodeAzevedo I disagree. The question is perfectly appropriate. Your general user in an English language website, when investigating details of a mathematician whose name is presented in the form "J.L. Tits" will naturally ask "What is that 'middle name' which begins with L?" Those nations whose first language is English overwhelmingly understand the concept of a "middle name", but far fewer will also know that (at least some) other nations do not. Hence the question asking for a "middle name" is more directly accessible (and hence "useful") than the suggested alternative. – Prime Mover Dec 10 '21 at 10:20
  • @RodrigodeAzevedo ... It is then the business of the person answering such a question to add that information: "people from the social milieu of the subject of this question do not have middle names." Not everybody knows this fact. Mine is not the parochialism. – Prime Mover Dec 10 '21 at 10:23
  • @RodrigodeAzevedo I assumed he had only 3 names because that was how I saw how his name was presented: "J.L. Tits". If he had more, then somewhere out there would exist a reference to him where there is more than three initials. This question was entirely spurred by the existence of those references to "J.L. Tits". I just wanted to know what the L stands for. I care absolutely nothing for the concerns you are raise, as they are of no importance whatsoever. – Prime Mover Dec 10 '21 at 11:43
  • @RodrigodeAzevedo Because I don't want to. – Prime Mover Dec 10 '21 at 13:36
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    I have to admire the entirely appropriate decorum shown in these comments. – Michael Harvey Dec 28 '21 at 17:13
  • @JeanMarieBecker - I am not American, and I have a middle name (John). My son has three forenames (William Arthur Francis). – Michael Harvey Dec 28 '21 at 18:28
  • @Michael Harvey What I was meaning is a real middle name like Fitzgerald in J.F. Kennedy. I wasn't thinking to the fact of having more than one Christian/given name. – Jean Marie Becker Dec 28 '21 at 20:12
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    @JeanMarieBecker - John is my 'real middle name' in UK usage, and Fitzgerald was JFK's 'real middle name'. It happened to be his mother's surname prior to marriage. – Michael Harvey Dec 28 '21 at 21:09
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    @Michael Harvey I see. Thank you for making me understand a little more these issues. – Jean Marie Becker Dec 28 '21 at 22:52

1 Answers1

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Technically, Belgians (and French) do not have middle names, but they can have first names consisting of two words, or several "first names as written on legal documents" (voornamen zoals op identificatie documenten) that are used nowhere else, apparently. Jacques' other first name, Léon, happens to be his father's first name. Here is from Buekenhout's Biography of Jacques Tits written on the occasion of him receiving the Abel prize:

"Jacques Léon Tits was born on August 12, 1930, in Uccle (Ukkel in Dutch) in Belgium, a southern township of Brussels. All of his publications, except one, are signed Jacques Tits and this is how I [Francis Buekenhout] will refer to him from now... Jacques’s father Léon Tits (1880–1943) was a mathematician and received his education from the Université Catholique de Louvain. His mother, Maria Louisa André (1889–1957) was a piano teacher. She used to be called Louisa, and I will do so hereafter."

Conifold
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