User:Rama/Plea for a memorium to Coyau
Every year, Jimmy Wales distinguishes one or two contributors by thanking them in his speech at Wikimania (Wikipedian of the Year). This year, the French Wikimedia community mourns the passing of Coyau, a tremendous contributor both in quantity and in quality, as well as a remarkable and decent human being.
We wish to bring attention upon Coyau's career:
- quantitatively, Coyau brought 80k contributions to fr.wikipedia, nearly 100k contibutions to Commons, over 20k to fr.wikisource, 15k to fr.wiktionary, and over 1.3M contributions to Wikidata.
- qualitatively, Coyau produced several Featured Pictures and Valued Images on Commons, nearly 500 Quality Images, and was one of our rare experts in transcribing music sheets to Wikisource using LilyPond.
- as a trusted member of the community, he held administrative rights on many projects
- although he was not a member of Wikimedia France, he was a strong help in several of its long-term projects: Wikicheese, as well as documenting the work of Sèvres workshop artisans — who paid hommage by creating a unique porcelaine item after his avatar
- the affection we felt towards him: he took part in many meetings in France and Switzerland, as well as in "Wiki takes <city>" events.
Coyau was an important member bringing tremendous technical expertise, dedication and humanity to our community, and his untimely passing has left a Coyau-shaped hole in our minds. We would like to respectfully inquire whether a word could be said in recognition of his accomplishments and of the esteem and affection he had earned amongst his peers.