Tycho Brahe as some had believed in his time. Tycho was born as heir to several of Denmark's most influential noble families and in addition to his immediate ancestry with the Brahe and the Bille families, he also counted the Rud, Trolle, Ulfstand, and Rosenkrantz families among his ancestors. Both of his grandfathers and all of his great grandfathers had served as members of the Danish king's Privy Council. His paternal grandfather and namesake Thyge Brahe was the lord of Tosterup Castle in Scania and died in battle during the 1523 Siege of Malmö during the Lutheran Reformation Wars. His maternal grandfather
European Astronomical Society , the president of the Society is Thierry Courvoisier (Switzerland). Maarten Baes (Belgium) serves as the "EAS Newsletter" editor. Since 2008 the European Astronomical Society has awarded the annual Tycho Brahe Prize, named in honour of the influential sixteenth century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. The prize is given in recognition of the development or exploitation of European instruments, or major discoveries based largely on such instruments. Since 2010 the EAS awards the Lodewijk Woltjer Lecture to honour astronomers of outstanding scientific distinction. Since 2013 the EAS is also awarding the MERAC Prizes for young European astronomers. There are yearly three