France

Paris, October 8, 2026. The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded on Wednesday, October 7, to Frenchman Henri Kagan, 95, and Japanese Kenso Soai, 76, "for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis," according to the announcement by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The sum of 12 million Swedish crowns, approximately 1.07 million euros, according to L'Express, is shared between the two laureates.

The French press begins by explaining the stakes. The chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, Heiner Linke, compared chiral molecules to hands: mirror images of each other, they do not overlap. Le Monde recalls the medical consequence with thalidomide, effective in its left-handed form and toxic in its right-handed form, withdrawn from the market in 1961 after the birth, according to the daily, of 10,000 to 20,000 malformed babies. The committee emphasizes that these discoveries have played "a decisive role for chemists who design reactions intended for the manufacture of pharmaceutical products."

But the French narrative focuses on 2001. That year, the Nobel Prize had crowned asymmetric catalysis without Henri Kagan, yet considered "in France and in the world" as the "father" of the technique. 20 Minutes, with AFP, attributes this exclusion to the rule of a maximum of three laureates and mentions a "wave of incomprehension"; the Ministry of Research had then protested. HuffPost France digs up the editorial by Didier Astruc in Le Monde, titled "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry stolen from Henri Kagan," and talks about "revenge."

The voices from the scientific community go in the same direction. Jacques Maddaluno, emeritus researcher at CNRS, states: "This repairs a historical injustice." Emmanuelle Schulz, director of the Institute of Molecular Chemistry and Materials of Orsay, estimates that "French chemistry is very lucky." Sud Ouest and RFI specify that Kagan is a professor at the University of Paris-Saclay and has spent his entire career at Paris XI.

The national dimension is explicit. HuffPost counts the 75th French laureate and notes that this is the first French person distinguished this season. Emmanuel Macron mentioned "immense pride for the country" and wrote on X: "From Paris-Saclay to the Nobel, French science shines." Kenso Soai, reached by phone by the Nobel Foundation, said: "This is the most incredible day of my life." The economics prize will close the season on October 12.