Pierre Grabar

Pierre Grabar (September 10, 1898 – January 26, 1986) was a Russian-born French biochemist and immunologist. He was the founding president of the Société Française d'Immunologie. He studied antigen-antibody reactions and developed a "carrier" theory of antibody function. His award-winning development of Immunoelectrophoresis made it possible to identify specific bodily proteins, opening new avenues in medical research. He welcomed many international students to his laboratory, which has been described as "extraordinarily vibrant and active" and "one of the best in the world".

In 1963 Grabar received a Canada Gairdner International Award and in 1968 the Prix Jaffé. In 1958, he received the Emil von Behring Prize and in 1977 the Robert Koch Medal. Grabar became a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 1962. He was an officer in the French Legion of Honor.

Childhood and studies

Pierre Grabar was born in Kiev, Russian Empire, on September 10, 1898. His father was Nicolas (Nikolay S.) Grabar (1852–1924), a lawyer and State Counsellor at the Court of Cassation of St Petersburg. His mother was Baroness Elisabeth de Prittwitz (1866–1924), an artist of German origin. His older brother André Grabar became a prominent professor of ancient Christian and Byzantine archaeology and art.

Grabar completed high school in Kiev in 1916.

In 1921, Grabar went to France.

Grabar received a doctorate from the University of Strasbourg in 1930, after working on uremia and salt deficiency (see below). There he began doing medical research on kidney function with professor Leon Blum. Grabar received his doctorate in 1930, having worked on uremia and salt deficiency and published "Azotemie par manque de sel" (Uremia due to salt deficiency).

In 1937-1938 Grabar was a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow at Columbia University in New York, USA. There he met the founder of quantitative immunology, Michael Heidelberger and found his vocation for the relatively new science of immunology. In 1954, Grabar was president of the (SFBBM, originally named the Société de Chimie Biologique). In 1966, Pierre Grabar founded the (SFI), serving as its first president from 1966 to 1969.

In 1953 Grabar developed immunoelectrophoresis, combining electrophoresis and immunochemical analysis to create an "immuno-electrophoretic method".

They published a brief introductory report in 1953 and a longer exposition in 1955, both in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta.

The paper describes a simple method which in a single operation enables the definition of complex mixtures of antigens or haptens by three independent criteria: the chemical or biochemical properties of the antigens (using various dyes or enzyme substrates), their electrophoretic mobility, and their antigenic specificity.

Selected publications

Awards and honors 1935, Inaugural recipient of the Prix Maurice Nicloux, with R. Guillemet. 1962, Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in the Microbiology and Immunologist category 1963, Canada Gairdner International Award 1968, Prix Jaffé 1969, Member, Académie Nationale de Médecine (French National Academy of Medicine) 1977, Robert Koch Medal Officier of the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur (French Legion of Honor)