André Louis-Hirsch (born in Paris on 28 March 1899, died in Paris on 15 December 1962), born André Hirsch and adding "Louis" to his surname in 1929, was a French banker from a prominent Parisian Jewish family. A close friend of Robert Esnault-Pelterie, he co-founded with him in December 1927, within the Société astronomique de France, the "REP-Hirsch" International Astronautics Prize, endowed with 5,000 francs to reward the most outstanding work on interplanetary navigation. At the founding dinner he proposed the term "cosmonautics," ultimately set aside in favour of "astronautics" suggested by J.-H. Rosny the elder. A discreet patron, he supported the pioneers, including Ananoff, whose 1935 booklet he prefaced. Mobilised in 1939 and taken prisoner of war, he spent most of his captivity in the Lübeck Oflag.