Bertrand Goldschmidt

Bertrand Goldschmidt (2 November 1912 – 11 June 2002) was a French chemist. He is considered one of the fathers of the French atomic bomb, which was tested for the first time in 1960 in the nuclear test Gerboise Bleue.

Biography Bertrand Goldschmidt was born in Paris on 2 November 1912 to a French mother and a Belgian father of Jewish origin. He entered the Paris School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry in 1932 and was recruited to the Radium Institute in 1933 by Marie Curie. He obtained his doctorate in 1939. He would also play a critical role in the establishment of the Israeli nuclear program. Goldschmidt traveled to Israel in 1954 to meet with David Ben-Gurion about nuclear issues and would serve, between 1956 and 1957, as one of the CEA officials in the negotiations leading to the establishment of the Dimona nuclear facility.

Goldschmidt headed the department of chemistry of the French Atomic Energy Commission until 1960. He is the author of numerous books on the history of the development of nuclear energy. He was the French representative in the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1958 to 1980.

He died on 11 June 2002 in Paris.