Florkin, Marcel Victor Mathieu Marie (1900-1979)

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Biochemist and historian of science, born in Liège on 15 August 1900 and died in the same city on 3 May 1979.

Biography

Marcel Florkin was born in Liège on 15 August 1900. He attended secondary school at the Royal Atheneum in Liège.[1] In 1927, he was an internist in a psychiatric hospital. In 1928 he became a doctor of medicine at the University of Liège. He also spent three years at various foreign universities (Harvard, Munich, Paris and Cambridge).[2] Afterwards, he was an associate researcher for the NFWO from 1932 to 1934. In 1933 he obtained his aggregate for higher education.
In 1934, he was appointed assistant in physiology at the University of Liège. In the same year, he was put in charge of the course in physiological chemistry at the Medical Faculty and the course in biological chemistry at the Faculty of Science. He succeeded his teacher Léon Fredericq.[3] He was entrusted with organising the first biochemistry classes at the University of Liège.[4] In the same year he taught comparative biochemistry for the first time, and in 1942 he started the course in pathological biochemistry.
From 31 October 1944, he was charged with teaching applied and ordinary biochemistry at the University of Liège in the Faculty of Science.
In 1946, he became Director General of Higher Education and Science. From 1948 to 1949 he was Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of Liège. At the same faculty he taught the history of medical sciences from 1958 to 1961.[5]
He was granted emiritus-status in 1970.

He became a corresponding member of the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique on 9 December 1961, an effective member on 4 July 1970 and Director of the Class of Sciences in 1974.
Marcel Florkin and Polidore Swings were the initiators of the National Committee for Space Research at the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique.
Marcel Florkin was also a member of the Académie royale de médecine de Belgique. He became president of the Académie internationale d'Histoire de la Médecine in 1962.[6]
He was a member of the Board of Governors of the University Foundation from 1947 to 1950. He was a member of the committee for Biochemistry (normal and pathological) and Molecular Biology at the NFWO in 1953 and chairman in 1965.[7]
He was the founder and former president of the Association pour le Progrès intellectuel et artistique de la Wallonie (APIAW), vice-president of the Union pour la Défense de l ' Art musical (UDAM), former president of the Mouvement populaire wallon (MPW) and of the Radio/Télévision/Culture (RTC) as well as chairman of the Conseil d'Administration du Musée de la Vie Wallonne.[8]
The author of numerous works on biochemistry and the history of this discipline, Florkin was one of the founders of the Belgian Society for Biochemistry (1951), of which he became the first president. Paul Putzeys and Jean Brachet were also involved in the founding of this society. Through it, Florkin contributed to the establishment of the International Union of Biochemistry, of which he also became the first president.
Florkin also held important political positions at the Ministry of National Education, at UNESCO and at the World Health Organisation (WHO).
He also organised a series of national and international conferences on biochemistry.[9]

He received honorary doctorates from the universities of Montpellier (1962), Bordeaux (1963), Rio de Janeiro (1966), Gembloux (1966), René Descartes and Paris V (1976).[10]
He won several prizes. He was Laureate of the university competition for the period 1926 to 1928. He also won the Théophile Gluge Prize (1928), the Agathon De Potter Prize (1934) and the Adolphe Wetrems Prize (1943).[11] From 1955 to 1956 he held the Francqui Chair at ULB.[12]
A prize was also named after him, awarded annually to a young researcher for a publication in the field of biochemistry or on the history of science.[13]
He was made Knight of the Legion of Honour (1950) and Grand Officer in the Order of Leopold.[14]
He died in Liege on 3 May 1979.

Work

He was the author of more than 800 publications. [15] Marcel Florkin was a pupil of Léon Fredericq. Florkin devoted himself to the comparative analysis of important physiological functions such as respiration (characterisation of the oxygen transporting respiratory pigments), osmosis regulation in marine and terrestrial invertebrates and vertebrates, and the electrical properties of nerves and muscles. He developed the concept of biochemical evolution, correlative to the morphological evolution of living beings. He was one of the first researchers to study the evolution of proteins by comparing homologous protein sequences isolated in different species.[16]
Besides developing the concept of biochemical evolution, he was also responsible for the concept of molecular evolution. He put both concepts into practice and propagated their use internationally.

History of science

He also wrote historical publications. He wrote the biography of Theodor Schwann and published his correspondence. He published a biography of Léon Fredericq and a work on the history of biochemistry. He also wrote three volumes on medicine and doctors in Liège entitled: Médecine et médecins au pays de Liège.[17]
He also wrote the work Histoire de la Biochemie, the last part of which, however, was never completed due to Florkin's unexpected death.[18]

Philosophy of science

Under the influence of positivism, historians of science such as Florkin have searched in vain for great scholars and important discoveries. At the same time they have loved to mock local glories.[19]
The apparent contradiction between the growing complexity of living organisms in biological evolution and the increase of entropy in an isolated system did not escape Marcel Florkin's notice. A contradiction that was also central to the work of Ilya Prigogine.[20]

Manuals

He played a decisive role in the development of biochemistry in Belgium. He contributed to the publication of several reference works including: Comprehensive Biochemistry (36 volumes, 1962-1986) and Comparative Biochemistry (7 volumes, 1960-1964).[21]
He also wrote several didactic contributions such as:Biochimie et biologie moléculaire (1972),Introduction biochimique à la médecine (1959), another on surgery (1962), a part on Aspects biochimiques communs aux êtres vivants (1956) and Unity and diversity in Biochemistry (1959).[22]

Publications

  • A list with publications can be found in: Bacq, Zenon & Brachet, Jean,"Marcel Florkin", In: Annuaire ARB, jaargang 1985, Brussel: ARB, p. 88-98.
  • A short list with historical publications is offered in: Théodoridès, Jean, "Necrologie Marcel Florkin", In: Revue d’histoire des sciences, jaargang 1980, vol. 33, p. 76.


Bibliography

  • Bacq, Zenon & Brachet, Jean,"Marcel Florkin", In: Annuaire ARB, jaargang 1985, Brussel: ARB, p. 41-98.
  • Balduck, Paul, "Marcel Florkin", In: Sectie Historiek KVCV.
  • Schoffeniels, Ernst, "Marcel Florkin", In: Nouvelle Biographie Nationale, vol.3, 1994, p. 171-173.
  • Théodoridès, Jean, "Necrologie Marcel Florkin", In: Revue d’histoire des sciences, jaargang 1980, vol. 33, p. 75-76.
  • Bacq, Zenon,"Marcel Florkin", In: Florilège des Sciences en Belgique, vol. 2, Brussel, 1980, ARB, p. 675-678.
  • Wellens-De Donder, Liliane, "Compte rendu de l’ouvrage de Marcel Florkin: Médecins, libertins et pasquins (Liège, 1964)", in: Revue belge de philologie et d’histoire - Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis, vol. 43, 1965, p. 1537-1538.


Notes

  1. ↑ Balduck, Paul,"Marcel Florkin", In: Sectie Historiek KVCV, p.1.
  2. ↑ Bacq, Zénon M., "Marcel Florkin", In: Florilège des Sciences en Belgique, vol. 2, Brussel, 1980, ARB, p. 675-678.
  3. ↑ Schoffeniels, Ernst,"Marcel Florkin", In: Nouvelle Biographie Nationale, vol. 3, 1994, p. 171.
  4. ↑ Thieffry, Denis, "De fundamentele biologie: van het organisme tot de cel, van de molecule tot het ecosysteem", In: Robert Halleux, Geert Vanpaemel, Jan Vandersmissen en Andrée Despy-Meyer (red.), Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België 1815-2000, Brussel: Dexia, 2001, vol. 2, p. 203.
  5. ↑ Schoffeniels, Ernst,"Marcel Florkin", In: Nouvelle Biographie Nationale, vol. 3, 1994, p. 171.
  6. ↑ Bacq, Zenon & Brachet, Jean, "Marcel Florkin", In:Annuaire ARB, jaargang 1985, Brussel: ARB, p. 3-41.
  7. ↑ "Verslag van de jury voor de uitreiking van de Francqui-prijs aan Marcel Florkin" geconsulteerd op 02/02/2011 om 10u15.
  8. ↑ Bacq, Zenon & Brachet, Jean, "Marcel Florkin", In: Annuaire ARB, jaargang 1985, Brussel: ARB, p. 3-41.
  9. ↑ Thieffry, Denis,"De fundamentele biologie: van het organisme tot de cel, van de molecule tot het ecosysteem", In: Robert Halleux, Geert Vanpaemel, Jan Vandersmissen en Andrée Despy-Meyer (red.), Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België 1815-2000, Brussel: Dexia, 2001, vol. 2, p. 203.
  10. ↑ Ernst, Schoffeniels, "Marcel Florkin", In: Nouvelle Biographie Nationale vol. 3, 1994, p. 171.
  11. ↑ "Verslag van de jury voor de uitreiking van de Francqui-prijs aan Marcel Florkin" geconsulteerd op 02/02/2011 om 10u15.
  12. ↑ Schoffeniels, Ernst,"Marcel Florkin", In: Nouvelle Biographie Nationale, vol. 3, 1994, p. 171.
  13. ↑ Balduck, Paul, "Marcel Florkin", In: Sectie Historiek KVCV, p. 2.
  14. ↑ Bacq, Zenon & Brachet, Jean, "Marcel Florkin", In: Annuaire ARB, jaargang 1985, Brussel: ARB, p. 41-98.
  15. ↑ Théodoridès, Jean, "Necrologie Marcel Florkin", In: Revue d’histoire des sciences, 1980, vol. 33, p. 75-76.
  16. ↑ Thieffry, Denis,"De fundamentele biologie: van het organisme tot de cel, van de molecule tot het ecosysteem", In: Robert Halleux, Geert Vanpaemel, Jan Vandersmissen en Andrée Despy-Meyer (red.), Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België 1815-2000, Brussel: Dexia, 2001, vol. 2, p. 202-203.
  17. ↑ Théodoridès, Jean, "Necrologie Marcel Florkin", In: Revue d’histoire des sciences, jaargang 1980, vol. 33, p. 75-76.
  18. ↑ Brachet, Jean, "Esquisse d'une histoire de la biochemie, de la biologie cellulaire et de biologie moléculaire en Belgique", In: Florilège des Sciences en Belgique, vol. 2, Brussel, 1980, ARB, p. 299.
  19. ↑ Halleux, Robert & Opsomer, Carmélia & Vandersmissen, Jan (red.), "Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België van de Oudheid tot 1815", Brussel: Gemeentekrediet/Dexia, 1998, p. 302.
    The authors correctly point out that a global study of these local milieus is recommended to correct this distorted picture.
  20. ↑ Nicolis, Grégoire, "De thermodynamica, de wetenschap van het niet-lineaire en de statische mechanica", In: Robert Halleux, Geert Vanpaemel, Jan Vandersmissen en Andrée Despy-Meyer (red.), Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België 1815-2000, Brussel: Dexia, 2001, vol. 2, p. 164.
  21. ↑ Thieffry, Denis, "De fundamentele biologie: van het organisme tot de cel, van de molecule tot het ecosysteem", In: Robert Halleux, Geert Vanpaemel, Jan Vandersmissen en Andrée Despy-Meyer (red.), Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België 1815-2000, Brussel: Dexia, 2001, vol. 2, p. 202-203.
  22. ↑ Bacq,Zénon M., "Marcel Florkin", In: Florilège des Sciences en Belgique, vol. 2, Brussel, 1980, ARB, p. 675-678.
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