François Englert, the Belgian theoretical physicist renowned for his pivotal role in the discovery of the Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism, died on June 18, 2026, at the age of 93. His work fundamentally shaped modern particle physics by explaining how subatomic particles acquire mass, a breakthrough that culminated in the identification of the Higgs boson, often referred to as the "God particle."

Born in 1932 in Etterbeek, Belgium, to Polish-Jewish parents, Englert’s early life was marked by the upheavals of World War II. As a child, he narrowly escaped Nazi persecution, spending time in hiding and assisting the local resistance during the occupation. After the war, he resumed his education, earning a summa cum laude degree in engineering from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in 1955, though he soon turned away from applied physics to pursue theoretical studies in quantum physics.

Englert’s scientific partnership with Robert Brout began in 1959 at Cornell University. The two shared a passion for both physics and music and quickly developed a close scientific collaboration. After returning to Belgium, they worked together to formulate the theory that explains how particles acquire mass. Their work, published in 1964, introduced what is now called the Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism, describing an unseen energy field permeating the universe. Particles interacting with this field gain mass, a process essential for the existence of matter as we know it.

Shortly after Englert and Brout published their findings, British physicist Peter Higgs independently proposed a similar theory. Though earlier cited incorrectly as solely Higgs’s work, all three scientists are now credited with the mechanism, with Englert favoring the term “scalar boson” to describe the particle associated with the field.

The theory was initially met with skepticism due to a lack of experimental evidence. Englert and Brout anticipated eventual confirmation and celebrated quietly, a milestone that arrived nearly five decades later. In 2012, CERN announced the discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider, confirming the validity of their work and marking a landmark moment in physics.

Englert received numerous honors over his career, including the European Physical Society prize in 1997 and, alongside Peter Higgs, the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013. Robert Brout had passed away in 2011, missing the occasion by a year. Englert was also ennobled as a baron in Belgium that year.

Throughout his career, Englert remained dedicated to both research and teaching, valuing collaboration and intellectual exchange. His colleagues described him as modest and deeply committed to inductive scientific inquiry, often finding inspiration in music and creative thinking outside traditional academic methods.

Englert is survived by his five children and his third wife, Mira Nikomarow. His contributions continue to influence the fields of quantum physics and cosmology, bridging the infinitely small with the vast universe.