The Institut Pasteur honors the memory of Marcel Boiteux

Message from Yves Saint-Geours, Chairman of the Institut Pasteur Board of Governors

The Institut Pasteur would like to pay tribute to Marcel Boiteux, an economist and mathematician who served as a senior official and head of EDF and who spent six years as Chairman of the Institut Pasteur Board of Governors from 1988 to 1994. Marcel Boiteux died on September 6 at the age of 101. He was the founder of France's nuclear program, a builder, entrepreneur and intellectual, a man who was deeply committed to public service. He joined the African army during the Second World War and distinguished himself during the Italian Campaign and the Liberation of France, which earned him the Croix de Guerre.

He was born on May 9, 1922 in Niort, and with many of his family members having studied at the prestigious Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Normale, he naturally pursued a career in science. He studied at the Ecole Normale himself, also graduating from Sciences Po and becoming an associate professor in mathematics. He began his career in 1947 at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). With an interest in both the science of numbers and the art of administration, he joined EDF in 1949 as an engineer and stayed loyal to the company for four decades, serving as CEO and then Chairman until 1987. He was a key figure in the French electricity group, introducing principles such as peak and off-peak times, the basis of energy pricing, and he spearheaded France's decision to embrace nuclear energy against the backdrop of the international oil crisis in the 1970s.

Marcel Boiteux was less known to the general public as one of France's most respected economics researchers at international level and as President of the Econometric Society, following in the footsteps of renowned figures such as Keynes, Schumpeter, Irving Fisher, Leontief, and Nobel Prize laureates Samuelson and Arrow. His enthusiasm for science and his own scientific expertise led him to cross paths with the Institut Pasteur; he became a member of the Board of Governors in 1973, serving until 1985. He was seen as the best candidate to replace François Jacob as Chairman of the Board of Governors and he took up the post on October 27, 1988. He took over as Chairman at a decisive moment for the Institut Pasteur, as reported in an article in La tribune de l'expansion on November 2, 1988: "To compete with US research and develop its work, especially on AIDS, Pasteur needs to find new resources." Marcel Boiteux had previously served as a member of the Board of ADIP, the Association for the Development of the Institut Pasteur.

During his term as President of the Institut Pasteur Board of Governors, Marcel Boiteux supported the management team in its efforts to modernize the campus (opening the new HIV and retroviruses building and a specialist medical biology center) and in the proceedings instigated against the United States to recognize the Institut Pasteur's rights in the discovery of HIV, and his reputation led to great success in public relations campaigns (especially the Pasteur Foundation gala and the visit of wives of Heads of Member States of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe). His acquaintance with France's most senior political leaders and officials was also of immense value for the Institut Pasteur.

Marcel Boiteux had a strong personality and was fully invested in every task he undertook. He was committed to the Institut Pasteur's image but also counseled sobriety and discretion. He was nevertheless aware of the need to communicate, and in 1990 he had a new form of presentation adopted for the annual report of the Board of Governors, giving industry leaders, decision-makers and donors a comprehensive view of the Institut Pasteur's activities.

The Institut Pasteur, its Board of Governors and management team have offered their sincere condolences to his family and loved ones, as well as to his former associates.

Photo caption: Marcel Boiteux was a member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques, following his election to the Political economics, statistics and finances section on December 14, 1992.
Photo credits: Académie des sciences morales et politiques.