Germaine Benoit facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Germaine Benoit
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| Born | 9 October 1901 Paris
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| Died | April 1983 (aged 81) Paris
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| Known for | Study of sympathomimetic drugs |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemical engineering, pharmacology and biology |
Germaine Benoit (9 October 1901 – April 1983) was a French chemical engineer, pharmacologist and biologist, best known for her contributions to the study of sympathomimetic drugs.
Contents
Early life
Benoit was born on 9 October 1901 in Paris. She was an only child, and lost her father, a German teacher, in her teens, as he disappeared during the First World War.
Education
In 1918 and 1919, she earned two baccalaureates and the following year, gained her certificate in physics, chemistry and natural sciences (PCN), in preparation for medical studies. She then enrolled at the Institut de chimie appliquée, the future École nationale supérieure de chimie, where she studied for three years. She graduated in chemical engineering in 1923. Between 1922 and 1936 she earned five scientific degrees, in chemistry and biology.
Career
On 1 June 1924, Benoit joined the Pasteur Institute as an assistant in the medicinal chemistry laboratory directed by Ernest Fourneau. Ten years later, in 1934, she received the Prix Louis from the Académie de Médecine for her research on sympathomimetic drugs. During that time, she was part of the first major advances in the fight against sleeping sickness and malaria through her significant chemical engineering contributions to the discovery and development of drugs such as orsanine and rhodoquine.
In 1942, Benoit defended her doctoral thesis on hydrazine compounds. She continued to work in the medical chemistry department, and was appointed head of the laboratory in 1943. In 1947, she was made a Knight of the Légion d'honneur.
In 1960, Benoit was recruited by Daniel Bovet to work at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome.
Personal life
The following year, she married Albert Funke, who was also head of the laboratory of therapeutic chemistry at the Pasteur Institute, with whom she had collaborated for many years. The couple were friends with Jacques Monod. She and her husband retired in 1962 on their return from working in Italy.
Germaine Benoit died in Paris in April 1983.
Image
- Portrait photograph of Germaine Benoit by Henri Manuel (c. 1925).
