Le financement des débuts de l’Institut Pasteur : analyse des souscriptions (1886-1891) / Financing the early years of the Institut Pasteur: an analysis of the fundraising campaign (1886-1891)

Abstract

The creation of the Pasteur Institute (Paris) between 1886 and 1888 was the high point of Louis Pasteur's career and a breakthrough in the organization of science in France. Its funding was itself original, being based on the launching of a subscription often presented as a large popular movement. The analysis of different statements on this subscription gives a more nuanced picture highlighting the importance of certain Parisian elites - and in particular the High Bank - as well as the role of territories in the provinces where Pasteur's work had already been put to use.