Museum
Marie, in the shadow of Louis
Marie Laurent was born in Clermont-Ferrand on January 15, 1826, exactly 200 years ago. Although her role was largely dictated by her status as Louis Pasteur's wife, her actions helped guarantee the posterity of her illustrious husband.
How Marie met Louis Pasteur
Marie came from a wealthy family. Her father, Aristide Laurent, was principal of the middle school in Riom before becoming a schools inspector in Toulouse and then head of the local education authority in Strasbourg (1848-1850). Louis Pasteur, who was working as a chemistry professor at the University of Strasbourg, met Marie at an evening event organized by her father. They were married on May 29, 1849 in Sainte Madeleine Church in Strasbourg. From the beginning of their marriage, Marie Pasteur supported her husband, not just in terms of family duties but also discreetly contributing to his research. Louis Pasteur appreciated her "undemonstrative, steely, tough" character and described her as a "strong woman."[1]
A valuable colleague for Louis Pasteur
"Mrs. Pasteur loved her husband so much that she took an interest in his research. In the evenings, she would take dictation from him and ask for explanations, because she was genuinely interested in hemihedral facets and attenuated viruses. She soon realized that explaining ideas can help clarify them in one's mind, and that the best way to come up with new experiments is to talk about those that have just been performed. Mrs. Pasteur was not only a peerless companion for Pasteur; she was his best colleague." Émile Roux (taken from the book Madame Pasteur : vivre avec Pasteur au jour le jour, Agnès Desquand, 2013) Marie Pasteur played an important role in organizing Louis Pasteur's research. She took care of the logistical side of his work and helped him prepare his experiments. She proofread his scientific notes and set them out more clearly. Often, if Louis Pasteur could not write because of headaches or after his two strokes (on October 19, 1868 at the age of 46 and October 23, 1887 at the age of 65), he would dictate his scientific reports to her so that she could write them up. As well as her secretarial role, she managed a large part of his personal and scientific correspondence, which was crucial for sharing his research. Marie was also in close contact with Louis Pasteur's colleagues, welcoming newcomers to the team and informing them about current and past research. At the beginning of his career, she provided financial support for his research. | Image 
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Strength of character in response to life's challenges
Marie and Louis Pasteur suffered unbearable losses during their life together. The couple had five children, but three died from infectious diseases at a young age: Jeanne (1850–1859) and Cécile (1853–1866) from typhoid fever and Camille (1863–1865) from liver cancer.
"My dear Adèle, not even a year ago I had four children like you, and God has taken half of them from me. My wonderful, kind Cécile, who took such pleasure in helping me raise and care for her little sister, has now gone to be with her, leaving us in a state of immense grief. She was twelve and a half years old, and we took great pleasure in watching her grow up, discovering new qualities in her every day that gave us such hope for the future. Now everything is ruined! All that we are left with is memories of the joy that she brought us, and those memories break our heart. I sincerely hope, dear Adèle, that you will never experience the sorrow of a mother who loses a child." Letter from Marie Pasteur to her cousin Adèle Gsell, June 1, 1866.
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Securing the legacy of her illustrious husband
When Louis Pasteur died on September 28, 1895, Marie refused to have him buried in the Panthéon, as proposed by the French government. Instead she commissioned the famous architect Charles-Louis Girault to build a crypt within the institute that her husband had founded. In so doing she took the first step in preserving Louis Pasteur's legacy within the historical building at the Institut Pasteur. She continued to live in the apartment until her death in Arbois on September 23, 1910, at the age of 84. She was buried alongside Louis Pasteur in the crypt at the Institut Pasteur in Paris. Her Latin epitaph, taken from the Code of Justinian, encapsulates her role: "Socia rei humanæ atque divinæ," meaning "companion in things human and divine."
In January 2025, the University of Franche-Comté included the name Marie alongside Louis when it changed its name to Université Louis et Marie Pasteur. This choice shone a light on a woman who had previously remained in the shadows.
To find out more about the life of Marie Pasteur, see the book by Agnès Desquand, Madame Pasteur : vivre avec Pasteur au jour le jour, available in the CeRIS library or online.
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Support the restoration of Louis and Marie Pasteur's appartment Louis and Marie Pasteur's appartment is a cultural and historical heritage site that must be preserved. Louis and Marie Pasteur spent their final years in this apartment, from February 1889 onwards. The rooms, conserved in their original state, offer a glimpse of the global reputation of the scientist, who had become the "benefactor of humanity" with his rabies vaccine in 1885, and also the daily life of a bourgeois household in the late 19th century. The apartment includes the "scientific souvenir room," created in 1938 to display Louis Pasteur's scientific instruments and laboratory glassware. Louis Pasteur, who died in 1895, was buried with his wife in the neo-Byzantine-style crypt in the same historical building where he had spent his last years. The former apartment, now the Pasteur Museum, was recognized under the "Maisons des Illustres" scheme in 2012. The Fondation du Patrimoine, a private French organization with recognized charitable status that aims to safeguard and promote the country's heritage, is supporting the Institut Pasteur. To help raise the funds needed to restore Louis and Marie Pasteur's apartment, the Fondation du Patrimoine has launched an online appeal. |