Henri Moissan : l'homme, le collectionneur, l'enseignant

On December 10 1906, Henri Moissan was in Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize for chemistry for his isolation of fluorine in 1886 and for his electric arc furnace he described for the first time in 1892 then later improved and which opened the way to the new field of high-temperature chemistry. This was the first Nobel Prize for chemistry awarded to a Frenchman and Moissan was the only French pharmacist to have received this high distinction. He died suddenly at the age of 54 years, two months after receiving his Nobel Prize. In this presentation, we report the main elements of his biography, recalling the man, the teacher and the great collector of paintings and autographs, particularly from the period of the French revolution. We have used several unpublished or little known documents concerning this great scientist who with is broad culture and malicious humor always found the time, despite his many obligations, to satisfy his literary and artistic tastes.