Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008), famous as a British science-fiction author, inventor and futurist, and perhaps most known to the general public for his novel "2001: A Space Odyssey", was one of the pioneers who helped to found the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) in 1951.

Born in Minehead, England, he served in the Royal Air Force as a radar specialist during the Second World War. He was involved in the early warning radar defence system which contributed to the RAF's success during the Battle of Britain. After the war, he earned a first-class degree in mathematics and physics at King's College London.

In the postwar years, Clarke became involved with the British Interplanetary Society and served for a time as its chairman. His most important contribution may have been the idea that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays. He was the first in the world to propose this concept, doing so in a paper privately circulated among the core technical members of the BIS in 1945.

During 1950 and 1951, Clarke was involved in a series of meetings of world space pioneers which led to the foundation of both the IAF and the annual International Astronautical Congress to promote the sharing of space expertise.

Clarke lived in Sri Lanka from 1956 onwards. The island inspired the locale for his novel The Fountains of Paradise, in which he first described a space elevator. This, he believes, ultimately will be his legacy, more so than geostationary satellites, once space elevators make space launches from Earth obsolete.

Clarke was the first Chancellor of the International Space University, serving from 1989 to 2004, and also served as Chancellor of Moratuwa University in Sri Lanka from 1979 to 2002.

Sir Arthur C Clarke died in Sri Lanka at 01:30 local time on 19 March 2008.

Sir Arthur C Clarke talks in 2007 about 50 Years of the Space Age. Credit: IAF