Thérèse Tréfouël

Thérèse Tréfouël (née Boyer, 19 June 1892 — 9 November 1978) was a French researcher specialized in medicinal chemistry. Along with her husband, Jacques Tréfouël, she is best known for her research on sulfonamides, when they were a novel class of antibiotic drugs.

Education and personal life Between 1913 and 1919, Thérèse Boyer studied chemistry at the Faculté des Sciences, in Paris. She met her husband Jacques when they were assigned as lab partners after both failing to sign up to a practical course on time. Jacques and Thérèse married in 1921. ), and malaria (Rodoquine).

In 1938, Jacques started his own laboratory at the Pasteur Institute. In 1940, Jacques was appointed as director of the institute, at which point Tréfouël took over the management of the laboratory. After the Second World War, the Tréfouëls continued their research into sulfamides. In 1954, they established the use of diaminodiphenyl sulfone for the treatment of leprosy and tuberculosis. The Tréfouëls were nominated for a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1950 by Pauline Ramart. In 1955, they were nominated for the Prix du Conseil National de l'Ordre des Pharmaciens, for their lifetime achievements in medicinal chemistry. thumb The Jacques and Thérèse Tréfouël Square in Paris was named after Tréfouëls.

In 2026, Tréfouël was announced as one of 72 historical women in STEM whose names have been proposed to be added to the 72 men already celebrated on the Eiffel Tower. The plan was announced by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo following the recommendations of a committee led by Isabelle Vauglin of Femmes et Sciences and Jean-François Martins, representing the operating company which runs the Eiffel Tower.