Named in memory of the French-Belgian-American writer Marguerite Yourcenar (Marguerite de Crayencour, 1903-1987). Well known for her novels, essays and short stories, she also did translational work. In the historical novel Mémoires d´Hadrien (1951), she explored the world and thoughts of the fascinating second-century Roman emperor and meditated on human destiny, morality and power. Her 1968 L´oeuvre au noir (The Abyss) is an erudite evocation of the medieval spirit in Flanders and Italy by means of the life of a fictitious sixteenth-century alchemist and philosopher. In 1980 she became the first woman writer to be elected to the prestigious French Academy. Citation prepared by K. Leterme at the request of the discoverer.