Pierre Eugène Marcellin Berthelot FRS FRSE (25 October 1827 – 18 March 1907) was a French
chemist and politician noted for the
Thomsen-Berthelot principle of
thermochemistry. He synthesized many
organic compounds from inorganic substances, providing a large amount of counterevidence to the theory of
Jöns Jakob Berzelius that organic compounds required organisms in their synthesis. He is considered as one of the greatest chemists of all time. He gave all his discoveries not only to the French government but to humanity.