Frédéric Joliot-Curie, Director of the National Centre for Scientific Research (August 1944 – November 1946)

Authors: Jean Michel Biquard and Denis Guthleben

On August 20, 1944, Frédéric Joliot-Curie was appointed head of the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research). This decision, initiated during meetings of the National Council of the Resistance, was formalized in the ordinance of November 2, 1945, signed by Charles de Gaulle, head of the Provisional Government of France (1).

It is reasonable to assume that Charles de Gaulle’s decision was based on the exceptional contribution of Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie to the discovery of artificial radioactivity and the impact such a discovery would have on energy control and electricity production, so vital during the country’s reconstruction.

We should recall Frédéric Joliot-Curie’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech in Oslo in 1935, in which he spoke of “the enormous release of energy that can be expected from the control of the transmutation of atoms.”

A massive investment in scientific research would be the essential lever for the country’s reconstruction (1).

The meetings chaired by Frédéric Joliot from September 1944 onward also aimed, and above all, to prepare for what would come next. The director of the CNRS outlined the research organization he intended to implement once peace returned. His most important proposal was to create a steering committee composed of some 150 leading scientists. In his view, this body should be “responsible for organizing pure and applied scientific research, developing research programs, selecting projects, and monitoring their execution.” Like the Higher Council created at the initiative of Jean Perrin in 1933, associated with the Central Service established under the Popular Front, this assembly, which would “truly represent French scientific research,” would also have its “executive body,” in this case, a board of directors based within the CNRS. Henri Moureu, who learned of this project at the meeting of September 18, 1944, challenged the director of the CNRS: “So, you think you can turn us into a Republic!”

This was indeed the gist of Frédéric Joliot’s proposals, which also envisioned structuring the committee into sections, which he called “specialized committees.” These committees, covering each field, as well as specific research topics requiring interdisciplinary collaboration, would function as bodies for collective coordination and management, with regular meetings. They would include only “young and active individuals” from all backgrounds, in order to ensure the broadest possible structure under the CNRS’s leadership. While reaffirming the principles established by Jean Perrin and Jean Zay before the war, Frédéric Joliot drew lessons from the past years, during the mobilization and under the Occupation: “Research laboratories attached to various ministries and endowed with their own budgets have always opposed their absorption by the CNRS. It does not seem advisable to attempt this merger again. These research organizations should retain their budgetary autonomy, but they could be represented on the Steering Committee to ensure their effective collaboration with the CNRS. The same applies to laboratories within certain public services, such as the SNCF (French National Railway Company), or certain private companies.”

The outlines of the nascent assembly took shape over the months, during debates that were sometimes heated.

A reform of the CNRS was essential to address the shortcomings in the education received by students in science faculties and the Grandes Écoles (elite higher education institutions).

Frédéric Joliot-Curie and Georges Tessier advocated for “preparatory education for research” and drafted an ordinance (2) that still governs the organization of scientific research in France today. One of its aims was to ensure career prospects for students who wished to dedicate themselves entirely to scientific research (3).

The ideas and achievements of Frédéric Joliot-Curie during his brief tenure as head of the CNRS before his appointment as Director of the CEA (French Atomic Energy Commission) have profoundly influenced the CNRS’s operations up to the present day.

We should particularly highlight the granting of civil servant status to researchers, engineers, and technicians in 1984. This idea had been brewing in texts published during his term:

(1) Denis Guthleben: History of the CNRS from 1939 to the present day: Armand Colin Pocket Edition 2013

(2) Ordinance 45-2632 of November 2, 1945 (Official Journal of November 3, 1945, pages 7913-7935)

(3) Pierre Biquard: “Frédéric Joliot-Curie and Atomic Energy” L’Harmattan Edition 2003 (Pages 85-93)

Michel Blay: When Research Was a Republic: Armand Colin Edition – Committee for History