 I'm Lucie Luzi. I'm a mathematician. I work in algebraic geometry. I was a student of Gotendic. From 1976 to 2005, I was a professor at Orsay, in Paris-Süd, and retired in 2005. Well, I was at the Econormal between 1959 and 1963. In 1963-64, I attended the last of Carton seminars, which was a joint seminar between Carton and Schwarz. Carton proposed, at the end, a topic for a PhD, or test data, at the end, and I started working on it. In the course of 1964, I had already obtained a few results, but I had a few questions that I didn't know how to tackle. Carton suggested that I should consult the best expert at the time, which was Gotendic. And then I came to the IHES one afternoon, and I think it was in June 1964. I met Gotendic. I explained my questions. I listened to his very long answer. And at the end, he said, well, Lucie, you will work in my seminar in the fall. Okay, but I don't know much. So then I became his student, and I worked in his seminar. He advised my PhD, which I defended eventually in 1971. So that was my first, somehow, introduction to the IHES. Well, Gotendic was very generous, very gentle to students, and gradually I learned algebraic geometry, and I learned what he had done in AGA. And SGA wrote up some of his exposés and discussed reduction with him in detail, and I learned the job, and he was a fantastic advisor. And later in 1966-67, together with Bertolot, under his guidance, we organized a seminar at the AGA 6. That was marvelous time, I remember. Sometimes this period where mathematics, where Gotendic was exploding, were described as some golden age in mathematics, at least in algebraic geometry. So Gotendic left IHES in 1970, but I kept a strong relation with IHES because the link came to the IHES first as a student. He was also a student of Gotendic. I think it was in 1965. And then later, he became a professor there, and first when I was at the CNRS, and then later when I was a professor at Orsay, I attended his seminar in the 1970s until the final seminar, I think in maybe 82, 83, something like that. So strong connection with the IHES, and of course with Ofer Gaber after 1979, early 80s, when he arrived, and all the professors, visitors who came to the IHES at the time. And still one of my most memorable experiences was when in 2005 I retired, and there was a conference in my honor, which title was between IHES and Orsay. And so I remember the party, for example, it was held here at the IHES. So a long, long relationship, and then after that a group of the work, a seminar with Gaber and other people. So a long and continuous relation with IHES up to now. Yeah, so Ofer Gaber is of course one of the strongest, best mathematicians in the world, specialized in algebraic geometry and arithmetic geometry, but he knows much more. So a very important figure, maybe I should say some emblematic figure of the IHES now. So he arrived in the early 1980s, and last month he turned 60. And I'm organizing a conference in honor of Ofer Gaber on the occasion of his birthday, which will take place next week at the IHES. And that will be one of the four events celebrating also the 60th anniversary of the creation of the IHES by Mochan in 1958. So it is a simple algebraic geometry, a study of mathematical objects, which are described by polynomial equations. So let me just give a very simple example. You draw two perpendicular lines in the plane, so the coordinate axis. So you have those two lines. And then, so this is the geometry. And the algebra is x, y equals 0. So you have an equation and you have a figure. So algebraic geometry is about that. And of course, slightly more complicated examples. So of course, the very deep and strong and lasting relationship, especially because from the creation, the IHES is the most important figure that came there. First, that was Jordanie. And he invited Gotendijk, who was the rising star. And of course, Gotendijk revolutionized the topic. And people from all over the world came to the IHES to see what was going there. So algebraic geometry was the central point, kind of the sun in the mathematical world. So in the world, then IHES and algebraic geometry or Gotendijk became the center. And it continued with maybe to a slightly less extent with Dunning's seminar in the 70s, but still there was the proof, the vaconjecture, so an enormous aura around the algebraic geometry and arithmetic geometry. And then it is still a very strong area. There are other colleagues at IHES working in different areas, but algebraic geometry is a permanent and very strong field there. Offer-Gabber. First, I discovered that when preparing the addition of SGA5, I discovered that he had worked out some problems with Gotendijk. And I saw that someone by the name of Gabber-Offer had proven something very difficult. And I wrote a footnote that certain g.offer had proven something. And it's only that later that I realized that it was a mistake. The first name is Offer-Gabber. So anyway, I met him in 1979. He was arriving in France. I visited IHES occasionally several times during the early 1980s, and I met him at the time, and we just got several points in mathematics. And then continuously I discussed with him. I asked him his advice because he's so, so reliable. When he says something, you can trust him completely. There was no problem there. And he helped me correct many mistakes, sometimes also suggesting developments. So he helped me a lot up to now. And we had also a very strong period of interaction after I retired in 2008, 2012, working on the group de travail, a seminar around his work at the École Polytechnique. But I visited him here several times, and we discussed a lot. And we are still discussing a lot now. Well, he has contributed to many parts of mathematics, but especially in algebraic geometry, of course, and especially in etalcology. So I would single out two results. One is the purity on Goreski-McPherson intermediate or pure intermediate extension, which is an old result in 1981, I think. And much later, his results on local uniformization and finiteness in etalcology over excellent schemes, which was the topic of this group de travail we discussed just a minute ago. So this resulted in a very thick asterisk volume of maybe 600 pages. And certainly, this is one of his most important results. Well, that's an interesting point, because actually, as I said, I was a student of Henri Carton in the beginning, and Henri Carton worked mostly in homotopy theory and analysis, analysis of function complex variables, shift theory around that. And it's not an analytic geometry, and it's only when I met Groten-Dieg that really I shifted to algebraic geometry. Of course, I had an interest in that in homological algebra and parts of algebraic geometry. I was starting reading the third volume of EGA already at the Ecole Normale, but it was really the thing that started my working and was really my encounter with Groten-Dieg. Well, I think it's quite similar to what all mathematicians... So what pushed me to continue to do mathematics? That is your question. So I think it is mostly what most mathematicians feel. You see, one day, you just observe something, you find a result, and it turns out that it is new. So, well, come on, I discovered something new, so you are so happy. I remember it happened to me already when I was working with Carton later with Groten-Dieg, and somehow you think that it might be isolated, but no, it continues, and sometimes it fits within a program, of course. But it's punctuated by those discoveries, those observations, and sometimes it's deep, sometimes it's already known, sometimes it may be false, but this is how you work, and then it's a constant stimulation to go and see further. Well, I think probably the most beautiful thing in the world. I don't like to say theory or construction, or I don't know, it's a beautiful thing. It's about thought, about art, about many things, and it concentrates what maybe mankind has done the best, I think, during history. It's the most beautiful thing, I think, that has been achieved. Some compare with music, compare it with music and literature. I think it's a quintessence somehow. We met, I think, in 1968. I vividly remember when we first met. We were having tea in the lounge, in the ITS, and I was discussing with Pierre de Ligne, and I saw a young man talking with ease and precision and incredibly easy way and an impressive way on very difficult questions in mathematics, and he looked so young, and I asked de Ligne, but who is this person there? Oh, you don't know him, but it's Nick Katz, he's from Princeton. So then, of course, we were introduced, I started discussing, and that was the beginning of friendship, which lasted until now, and we are still very good friends and often discussing together.