Paul Sabatier

Born in Carcassonne on 5 November 1854, Sabatier built his career around a deceptively simple question: how to make hydrogen bond to organic molecules more efficiently. His breakthrough was showing that finely divided metals could催 the reaction, a method that became foundational for synthesizing everything from margarine to pharmaceuticals. The Nobel committee recognised him in 1912, sharing the prize with Victor Grignard. He spent the next three decades refining the science until his death on 14 August 1941, leaving behind a technique still in use whenever a chemist needs to add hydrogen to a…