Édouard Chatton

Who was Édouard Chatton?

Édouard Chatton was a French biologist who first characterized the distinction between the eukaryotic and prokaryotic systems of cellular organization. Chatton coined the terms in his 1925 paper, Pansporella perplex: Reflections on the Biology and Phylogeny of the Protozoa.

Chatton's initial interest was in various human pathogenic protozoa, members of the Apicomplexa and Trypanosomatids. He later expanded his studies to include marine protists, helping to contribute to the description of the dinoflagellate protists. At the Pasteur Institute he met and became a mentor to André Michel Lwoff, future Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine. The two scientists remained close associates until Chatton's death in 1947.