Hervé
This, vo Kientza (Kientza, born 5th
June 1955), chemical physicist at INRA and Professor at
AgroParisTech, is now (mainly) the Director of the AgroParisTech-INRA
International Centre for Molecular Gastronomy, in Paris.
After
studying at the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie de Paris
(ESPCI ParisTech, 1976-1980) but also at University Paris IV (modern
litterature), he began his career in 1980 at the scientific journal
Pour
la Science,
the French Edition of Scientific
American,
as an editor of the journal and of scientific books at the Belin
Publishing Company.
At
about the same time (16 March 1980), he began his research in
Molecular Gastronomy
in the personal laboratory that he had at home since the age of 6.
As
early as 1980, he also proposed also a modernization of culinary
activities (after 1999, this was called “Molecular Cooking” and
“Molecular Cuisine” respectively for the technique and the
style).
For
years, he did his research alone while pursuing is scientific
communication activity, as a deputy editor, then the editor
of Pour
la Science.
For all these years, he was also collaborating to the radio channel
France
Culture,
and was Scientific Director of the scientific TV series Archimedes
(Arte)
and Pi=3.14
(France 5).
In
1986 he met the English Hungarian-born physicist Nicholas Kurti
(1908-1998), with which he created the scientific discipline called
Molecular Gastronomy in 1988.
Together, they created the International Workshops on Molecular and
Physical Gastronomy in the Ettore Majorana Centre (Erice, Sicily).
He
began giving invited seminars of Molecular Gastronomy, the first
being in the physics department of the Ecole normale supérieure de
Paris, France.
In
1995, he was asked by
the French Academy of Sciences,to
defend a PhD on La
gastronomie moléculaire et physique,
which he did in front of a jury including Jean-Marie Lehn (Nobel
Prize 1987), Pierre Gilles de Gennes (Nobel Prize 1999), Pierre
Potier and others.
In
1996, he
was invited by Jean-Marie Lehn to conduct his research at the
Laboratoire de Chimie des Interactions Moléculaires, of the Collège
de France.
In
2000, he was asked by Guy Ourisson, then president of the Academy of
sciences, to defend his habilitation to head research, which he did
at the University Paris Sud -Orsay, in front of Etienne Guyon, then
head of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Xavier Chapuisat, the
president of the university, Guy Ourisson, Alain Fuchs (now president
of CNRS) and the French chef Pierre Gagnaire.
He
moved to this lab at the Collège de France full time in 2000, being
appointed by INRA.
In
April 2006, while he was moving his lab to AgroParisTech, he was
given a professorship at the University, and the French Academy of
Sciences asked him to create Fondation
Science & Culture Alimentaire,
of which he was appointed the
Scientific Director.
And
in 2014, he was asked by Inra and AgroParisTech to create the
AgroParisTech-Inra International Centre for Molecular Gastronomy.
Since
2000, Hervé This has been frequently requested by French Ministries
to develop projects: new curricula for teaching culinary practices,
new ways of teaching science in schools and in colleges, creating an
Advanced
Studies Institute for Gastronomy…
Member of many committes, he runs monthly
Seminars
of molecular gastronomy
and
Courses
on Molecular Gastronomy,
delivering many lectures all around the world. He
writes regular columns in journals, and he is the author of many
books.
Since
2016, he is the creator and editor of the scientific journal N3AF
of the French Academy of Agriculture.
Honorary
member of various culinary Academies, president of the Food Section
of the Académie d’Agriculture de France; Member of the Académie
de Stanislas; Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Arts and
Letters of Belgium; Member of the European Academy of Science, Arts
and Letters, he is the recipient of many awards such as the Franqui
professorship (University of Liège), the Grand Prix des Sciences de
l’Aliment by the International
Association of Gastronomy, and his was received as Doctor Honoris
Causa of the University of agronomical and veterinary sciences of
Cluj-Napoca (Roumania) in 2017. Hervé
This is Officer in the Ordre des Arts et Lettres, Officer in the
Ordre du Mérite Agricole, Officer in the Ordre des Palmes
Académiques, and Knight in the Order of the Légion d’Honneur. He
wrote 18 books, many of them being translated in all the major
language of the world.
Right
now, while
his passion and main activity is still molecular gastronomy, he
is also actively involved in the promotion of Note by Note Cuisine,
as the next big global culinary trend.
Merci à mes collègues roumains pour leur accueil !
