2017, the year of Jean Rostand, a committed biologist

The son of the famous Edmond Rostand, Jean Rostand distanced himself in his youth from family literature to devote himself to science and biology, a passion he had nurtured since childhood.

Author of over 90 books, he wrote social pamphlets, popular science books, and humanist texts that influenced several generations. A pacifist and egalitarian, he criticized social injustices and championed human rights, notably supporting the right to abortion and co-founding the feminist movement Choisir in 1971 with Simone de Beauvoir and others.

Mobilized into the medical corps during the First World War, Jean Rostand worked on syphilis and typhus before resuming his scientific research and publications, combining science and freethinking. Convinced that progress depends on moral maturity, he championed a culture founded on doubt and the critique of dogmatism. Honorary president of the Freethinkers' Association, he remained an atheist and a materialist throughout his life.

On a personal level, he married Andrée Mante in 1920 and raised their son François, whom he protected and supported throughout his life. Jean Rostand died in 1977 at the age of 82, leaving behind a considerable body of scientific and humanistic work, recognized and celebrated in numerous writings and collections, with the support of his friends and scientific colleagues. Bibliography: This exhibition draws primarily on the work of: Albert Delaunay (1910-1993), physician, biologist, and man of letters, a friend of Jean Rostand. Collections of the Edmond Rostand Museum. Jean-Louis Fischer, historian of life sciences and medicine, author of, among other works, the special issue of Pour la Science: Jean Rostand, a committed biologist, May-August 2001.

Alain Dubois, a former student of Jean Rostand and professor at the National Museum of Natural History, who re-edited and provided commentary on "Jean Rostand, a Biologist Against Nuclear Power," published by Berg International. And the friendly support of Jacques Frétey, herpetologist (study of reptiles) and world expert on sea turtles: " It was above all Jean Rostand who was the primary driving force behind my career and the most important figure from whom all the stages of my life as a naturalist unfolded ."