Germaine Benoit (9 October 1901 – April 1983)

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année 1901, acte de naissance , cote V4E 9957, vue 25/31 (avec mention marginale de décès) was a French chemical engineer,

pharmacologist Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemic ...

and

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

, best known for her contributions to the study of sympathomimetic drugs.

Early life

Benoit was born on 9 October 1901 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. She was an only child, and lost her father, a German teacher, in her teens, as he disappeared during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

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 The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines ...

as an assistant in the

medicinal chemistry Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and developme ...

laboratory directed by

Ernest Fourneau Ernest Fourneau (4 October 1872 – 5 August 1949) was a French pharmacist graduated in Pharmacy 1898 for the Paris university specialist in medicinal chemical and pharmacology who played a major role in the discovery of synthetic local anesthetic ...

. Ten years later, in 1934, she received the Prix Louis from the

Académie de Médecine An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

for her research on sympathomimetic drugs. During that time, she was part of the first major advances in the fight against

sleeping sickness African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is caused by the species ''Trypanosoma brucei''. Humans are infected by two typ ...

and

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

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 The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. In 1960, Benoit was recruited by

Daniel Bovet Daniel Bovet (23 March 1907 – 8 April 1992) was a Swiss-born Italian pharmacologist who won the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of drugs that block the actions of specific neurotransmitters. He is best known for hi ...

to work at the

Istituto Superiore di Sanità The ''Istituto Superiore di Sanità'' (Italian National Institute of Health, literally 'Higher Health Institute'), also ISS, is an Italian public institution that, as the leading technical-scientific body of the Italian National Health Service (' ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Personal life

The following year, she married Albert Funke, who was also head of the laboratory of therapeutic chemistry at the

, with whom she had collaborated for many years. The couple were friends with

Jacques Monod Jacques Lucien Monod (February 9, 1910 – May 31, 1976) was a French biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1965, sharing it with François Jacob and André Lwoff "for their discoveries concerning genetic control of e ...

. She and her husband retired in 1962 on their return from working in Italy. Germaine Benoit died in Paris in April 1983.

Publications

* 1927: ''Sur les isomères de l'acide para-oxy-3-amino-phényl-arsinique et de son dérivé acétylé ( stovarsol)''

Bulletin de la Société chimique de France The ''Bulletin de la Société Chimique de France'' was a French peer-reviewed scientific journal on chemistry published by the Société Chimique de France. It was established in 1858 under the title ''Bulletin de la Société Chimique de Paris'' ...

. 4 (in French). 41: 499–514. 1927. ScF-41-1927 with

and

Jacques Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

and

Thérèse Tréfouël Thérèse Tréfouël (née Boyer, 19 June 1892 — 9 November 1978) was a French chemist. Along with her husband, Jacques Tréfouël, she is best known for her research on sulfamides, a novel class of antibiotic drugs. Education and personal l ...

. * 1930: ''Contribution à l'étude des anesthésiques locaux: Dérivés des amino-alcools à fonction alcoolique primaire'' Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., 4e série, vol.47, 1930, S. 858–885, with E. Fourneau and Roger Firmenich. * 1930: ''Synthèse d'un isomère et d'un homologue de l'éphédrine'' Bull. Soc. chim. 4e série, vol.47, 1930, S. 894–980, with E. Fourneau and R. Firmenich. * 1930: ''Contribution à la chimiothérapie du paludisme: Essais sur la malaria des canaris'', Annales de l'Institut Pasteur, vol.44, no5, mai 1930, S. 503–533 (Zusammenfassung), with E. Fourneau, J. and Th. Tréfouël, Georges Stefanopoulo, Yvonne de Lestrange and Kenneth L. Melville. * 1930: ''Préparation de dérivés en vue d'essais thérapeutiques. I. Amino-alcools. II. Dérivés de l'atophan. III. Dérivés du carbostyryle. IV. Dérivés quinoléiniques et quinoléine arsinique'', Ann. Inst. Pasteur, vol.44, no6, Juni 1930, S. 719–751, with E. Fourneau and J. and Th. Tréfouël. * 1931: ''Contribution à la chimiothérapie du paludisme: Essais sur les calfats'', Ann. Inst. Pasteur, vol.46, 1931, S. 514–541, with E. Fourneau, J. and Th. Tréfouël and Daniel Bovet. * 1933: ''Contribution à la chimiothérapie du paludisme: Essais sur les calfats (deuxième mémoire)'', Ann. Inst. Pasteur, vol.50, 1933, S. 731–744, with E. Fourneau, J. and Th. Tréfouël and D. Bovet. * 1934: ''Action thérapeutique de quinoléines à poids moléculaire élevé, homologues de la plasmoquine, sur les hématozoaires des calfats et des serins'', Bulletins de la Société de pathologie exotique et de ses filiales de l'Ouest africain et de Madagascar, vol.27, Nr. 3, 1934, S. 236–242, with D. Bovet and Reinout Altman. * 1935: ''Étude chimique et physiologique d'amines à fonction éthylénique et de diamines'', Bulletin des sciences pharmacologiques, vol.42, Nr. 1 und 2, Januar und Februar 1935, S. 34–43 und 102–109, with Rudolf Herzog. * 1938: ''Synthèse et étude pharmacologique de quelques dérivés hétérocycliques voisins de l'amino-méthylbenzodioxane'', Bull. sc. pharmacol., vol.45, Nr. 3, März 1938, S. 97–107, mit D. Bovet. * 1942: ''Préparation et propriétés physiologiques de quelques hydroxy-alcoyl-hydrazines...'' Thèses présentées à la Faculté des sciences de l'Université de Paris pour obtenir le grade de docteur ès sciences physiques par Germaine Benoit. * 1945: ''Sur l'acide corynanthique'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., 5e série, vol.12, 1945, S. 934–936, with E. Fourneau. * 1945: ''Éphédrine et isoéphédrines'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., 5e série, vol.12, 1945, S. 985–989, with E. Fourneau. * 1947: ''Hydroxy-alcoyl-hydrazines. 2.'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., 5e série, vol.14, Nr. 3–4, 1947, S. 242–244. * 1950: ''Synthèse et propriétés thérapeutiques des dérivés aminés et hydroxylés du stilbène'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., 5e série, vol.17, Nr. 9–10, 1950, S. 829–832, mit Dimitri Marinopoulos. * 1951: ''Synthèse de quelques dérivés aminés du diphénylméthane'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., 5e série, vol.18, 1951, S. 890–895, mit Fanny Eliopoulo. * 1951 : , with Joseph Jacob et F. Eliopoulo. * 1952 : , avec Roger Delavigne et F. Eliopoulo. * 1953 : , with R. Delavigne. * 1953 : , with Albert Funke. * 1955: ''Ammoniums quaternaires dans la série des acides hydroxamiques. I: Synthèse d'iodométhylates d'acides diméthylaminobenzoylhydroxamiques, antagonistes du diisopropyfluorophosphate'', C. r. hebd. séances Acad. sci., vol.240, Nr. 26, 27. Juni 1955, S. 2575–2577, with A. Funke and J. Jacob. * 1955: ''Synthèse et propriétés pharmacologiques de quelques ω-phényl-ω-carbétoxy-alcoyl-1-méthyl-4-pipérazines'', C. r. hebd. séances Acad. sci., vol.241, Nr. 6, September 1955, S. 581–583, with Bal Krishna Avasthi, J. Jacob and Monique Dechavassine. * 1955: ''Action de l'éthylénénimine sur les époxydes. 2.'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., 5e série, vol.22, Nr. 7–8, 1955, S. 946–947, with Albert Funke. * 1958: ''Synthèse d'acides diméthylaminobenzoylhydroxamiques et de leurs dérivés'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., 5e série, vol.25, Nr. 2, 1958, S. 257–258, with A. Funke. * 1958: ''Sur quelques dérivés N,N-disubstitués de la pipérazine'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., vol.25, Nr. 11–12, 1958, S. 1358–1364, with Bal Krishna Avasthi. * 1959: ''Contribution à l'étude des propriétés chimiques de la R-bêta-cyclohexyltétraline-I'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., vol.26, Nr. 7–8, 1959, S. 1197–1199, with R. Delavigne. * 1960: ''Benzodioxoles-1,3 substitués'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., 5e série, vol.27, Nr. 4, 1960, S. 638–642, mit B. Millet. * 1961: ''Dérivés de la phényl-2 dihydro-2,3 benzothiazine-1,4'', Bull. Soc. chim. Fr., 5e série, vol.28, Nr. 8–9, 1961, S. 1524 ff., mit A. Funke und B. Millet.

Image

* Portrait photograph of Germaine Benoit by

Henri Manuel Henri Manuel (24 April 1874 – 11 September 1947) was a French photographer who served as the official photographer of the French government from 1914 to 1944. Photography studio In 1900, Manuel opened a portrait studio in Paris with his br ...

(c. 1925).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benoit, Germaine 1901 births 1983 deaths Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French pharmacologists French biochemists Women chemical engineers French chemical engineers People from Paris