(°Venlo (NL) 1833 - † Luik 1905)

François Folie was born on December 11, 1833, the son of Anselme François Joseph Folie, commander of the École de Pyrotechnie de Liège. 

In 1855, he received his doctorate in physics and mathematics from the University of Liège. That same year, he began as an assistant astronomer at the Observatory. In 1865, he published a new theory on the motion of a solid body. Afterwards, he devoted himself to higher geometry for a period of 10 years.

On May 16, 1885, he succeeded Houzeau as director of the Royal Observatory of Brussels. It was under his supervision that the construction of the Observatory in Uccle, which Houzeau had begun, was further developed.

At the end of his career, he returned his focus to astronomy. For example, in 1883 he published tables for the correction of stellar positions and a treatise on the same subject in 1888. He was also interested in meteorology, studying cold fronts on fixed dates as well as the influence of lunar phases on the barometer. 
He was director of the Institute for Astrophysics in Cointe until 1893. Folie left the Observatory upon his retirement on March 27, 1897, and spent the last years of his life in Liège. 

He died in Liège on January 29, 1905.