Dear Édouard and our other colleagues at Wikimédia France,
We are sorry to hear about the passing of Mrs. Louise Merzeau. While I did
not have a chance to meet her, I understand she was an advocate for the
Commons movement and a leading academic on digital identities and the
relationship between technology and culture. I suspect we would have gotten
along well.
Although she did not get to share her knowledge longer, we are grateful for
the contributions she made. I have no doubt Wikimedia would have benefited
greatly from her continued advocacy.
I recognize with everything that is going on, an event like this can
quickly pass by without enough notice and tribute from all of us. However,
I hope we can pause to recognize that, above all, we are people who have
come together under a shared vision for a better future. The passion and
bond that unites us are much stronger than any disagreements or challenges.
Louise was a part of that vision, and we owe it to her to recognize her
passing.
On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation, please know that she is in our
thoughts and that the community has our condolences.
Katherine
PS. I encourage you to learn more about Mrs. Merzeau and her life from her
article on French Wikipedia:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Merzeau