Born on April 24, 1925, in Paris (17th arrondissement); French citizen. Married, with three children. Died on February 18, 2022.
Education and Professional Career
- 1942–1944: Faculty of Sciences, Toulouse
- 1944–1945: Faculty of Sciences, Paris
- 1945–1946: Research fellow at the CNRS
- 1953–1955: Rockefeller Fellow: Department of Bacteriology (University of Illinois) and Rockefeller Institute
- 1957–1962: Senior Researcher at the CNRS
- 1962–1968: Research Director at the CNRS
- 1968–1972: Professor at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Paris (Chair of Molecular Biology)
- 1972–1995: Professor at the Pasteur Institute, Head of the Biochemistry Department
- 1973–1996: Professor at the Collège de France, holder of the Chair of Cellular Biochemistry
- 1976–1981: Director General of the Pasteur Institute
- 1982: Honorary Director of the Pasteur Institute
Positions and responsibilities in advisory bodies for education and research
- 1969: Chair of the Biochemistry Departmental Unit (UER), University of Paris-VII
- 1971: Chair of the CNRS Cell Biology Committee
- 1972: Member of the Scientific Council of the European Organization for Molecular Biology (ENMO)
- 1976: Member of the CNRS Executive Board
- 1991: Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences
Learned Societies and Academies
- Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Member of the American Society of Biological Chemists
- Member of the Paris Academy of Sciences
- Associate Member of the Academy of Athens
- Associate Member of the Royal Academy of Belgium
- Member of the Indian National Science Academy
- Foreign Corresponding Member of the Venezuelan Academy of Physical, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
Awards and Honors
- 1964: Gold Medal of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
- 1967: Knight of the National Order of Merit
- 1968: Lacassagne Foundation Prize
- 1969: Charles Léopold Mayer Prize from the Academy of Sciences
- 1976: Knight of the Legion of Honor
- 1978: Officer of the National Order of Merit
- 1985: Officer of the Legion of Honor
- 1989: Commander of the National Order of Merit
- 1991: Commandeur de la Légion d’honneur
- 1998: Commander of the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan)
- 1999: Jawaharlal Nehru Medal (awarded by the Indian National Science Academy)