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He had a funny and
pleasant personality that the
Providence led to the final destination
through unusual means.
Maurice was born in 1905
in
Bizerte,
Tunisia
, that was then under French
protection. He studied in the famous French Polytechnique institute and
graduated as a marine engineer. He worked as an officer in a submarine and
earned a commendation for the courage he showed during the Marsa el-Kibir
battle in
Algeria
on July 3, 1940. At 25, he was ordained in March 1940 during a leave, after joining
the Society of Jesus in 1930.
He taught mathematics
and sciences in the Jesuit institutes, particularly in the Sainte Geneviève
school that prepares brilliant university students to enroll in what is called
in France “Hautes Ecoles” (Ivy League), such as the previously mentioned
Polytechnique. In 1957, he obtained a PhD in literature from the
Sorbonne
University, with a remarkable thesis
entitled Research in the Logic of Creative Thinking in Mathematics. We
remember that we lived together in the same monastery and we noticed how
difficult it was for the administration of the university to find five jury
members qualified to judge his thesis. One of them said that the work of Father
Meigne was “a unique support for many researchers in these difficult fields the
richness of which is endless”.
In 1965, the Superiors
of the Society of Jesus sent him to
Beirut to teach in the Faculty of
Engineering at the
Jesuit
University, where he
served as the Vice Dean for two years. However, this scientist who specialized
in mathematics and pure sciences was also very fond of biblical sciences and
knew the New Testament and the Fathers of the Church perfectly well. He wrote,
in his spare time, a theological book entitled The Church Invents its
Structures, proving that science and faith are not opposite but
complementary.
This encyclopedic man
was a living proof of modesty, kindness and softness, with whom it was very
nice and pleasant to live.
On September 30, 1975, while he was
coming back from
France
, the
plane on which he was exploded shortly before landing in
Beirut’s airport and dived in the sea. Father
Meigne drowned with all the passengers. Experts are almost certain that this
accident is part of the war that had started five months earlier and that the
plane was targeted because the perpetrators thought that one of the war leaders
was on board.
World War II was unable
to cause any damage to the officer in his submarine, but the Lebanese war took
him to the depth of the sea. His body did indeed drown, yet his soul soon flew
high in the sky.
