Who was Victor Grignard?
Victor Grignard 1871-1935

Victor Grignard was born in Cherbourg on 6 May 1871 at number 51 Rue des Carrières – a street now bearing his name. He was an outstanding pupil and passed his baccalaureate in 1888. He was then admitted to the Ecole Normale de Cluny before going on to the Faculté des Sciences in Lyon.

In 1901, he was awarded the degree "Docteur ès Sciences Physiques" after his thesis on organic magnesium compounds. He then taught at Besançon and Nancy, returning to Lyon in 1908 where he would stay.

Victor Grignard won the highest international distinction – the Nobel Prize for Chemistry – that he shared with Paul Sabatier in 1912.

At the outset of World War I, he joined the army's research laboratory and in 1917 he visited the United States heading a scientific committee.
In addition to his work on organic magnesium compounds, he was involved in key discoveries in organic chemistry, alcohols and hydrocarbons. He developed some forty procedures for organic synthesis.

It was only in 1926 that he was admitted into the Académie des Sciences and he would only be honoured with the "Légion d'Honneur as Commander" in 1932.
He continued to work relentlessly until his death on 12 December 1935 during an operation.