Renowned plant physiologist Pierre Joliot, grandson of the Curie Nobel laureates, dies at 94

Pierre Joliot, a French biologist renowned for revealing fundamental processes of photosynthesis, has died at the age of 94. He hailed from a distinguished lineage, being the grandson of Nobel laureates Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, and the son of Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie, who jointly received the Nobel Prize in chemistry. While his ancestors achieved fame in physics and chemistry, Joliot distinguished himself in plant physiology.

His childhood was steeped in scientific environments, including annual summer meetings at the Arcouest site in Brittany, where leading scholars gathered. He once reflected on the contrast between the relentless pace of modern life and the more measured rhythm of those early scientific gatherings. His elder sister, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, also remains a prominent figure in the scientific community.