Charles Moureu

François Charles Léon Moureu (19 April 1863, in <a href="/facts/Mourenx/jmzYnma8">Mourenx</a> – 13 June 1929, in <a href="/facts/Biarritz/8dUIxMY9">Biarritz</a>) was a French <a href="/facts/Organic_chemist/djxhxaNg">organic chemist</a> and pharmacist. In 1902 Charles Moureu published Notions fondamentales de chimie organique, translated into English as Fundamental principles of organic chemistry (1921).
During <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>, Charles Moureu was vice-chairman of France's Committee for Gas Warfare. In this role, he established 16 chemistry laboratories in Paris, supervising their work until 1918. Moureu also became chairman of the Committee of National Defence when it was established in 1925, leading it until his death in 1929.
During the war, he researched <a href="/facts/Acrolein/1gdt9D3f">acrolein</a> and <a href="/facts/Sulfur_mustard_gas/e3qWU2Qp">sulfur mustard gas</a>, working with <a href="/facts/Charles_Dufraisse/1I9MeTNe">Charles Dufraisse</a>. This work led them to pioneering research into <a href="/facts/Autoxidation/2mY5fjvj">autoxidation</a> and <a href="/facts/Antioxidants/4TG4MQ83">antioxidants</a>.
Moureu supported initiatives for international cooperation and <a href="/facts/Standardization/vS9AhNMS">standardization</a> among chemists. He was one of the vice-presidents of the <a href="/facts/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_chimique_de_France/73j5fsW7">Société chimique de France</a> (SCF) in 1910, and the founding President of the <a href="/facts/International_Union_of_Pure_and_Applied_Chemistry/2AV6myCK">International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry</a> (IUPAC) from 1920 to 1922.

Charles Moureu open-in-new

Charles Moureu