André Maurice Finkelstein (14 May 1923 – 10 September 2013) was a French chemist who served as the deputy director general of the IAEA from 1969 to 1973. He was also a high-ranking official in the Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (CEA), the French government's oversight body civilian and military nuclear activities.

Biography

Finkelstein was born in

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Saint-Maur-des-Fossés () is a Communes of France, commune in Val-de-Marne, the southeastern suburbs of Paris, suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. History Abbey Saint-Maur-des-Fossés owes its name to Saint-Maur A ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 14 May 1923. As a graduate student, he studied physical chemistry, spending two years at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

and joined the CEA in 1953 after earning his Ph.D. He originally studied tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, in a CEA lab. When the CEA expanded in 1958, Finkelstein became a senior officer in the department of external relations and programs. While serving in this role, Finkelstein participated in conferences in Geneva on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and served as advisor and alternate to the French representative to the

IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

. In 1967, he was promoted to deputy director in the cabinet of the high commissioner. He also worked in collaboration with the European Nuclear Energy Agency (ENEA). In 1969, Finkelstein became deputy director general in charge of research and isotopes at the IAEA, where he held until 1973. In 1974, Finkelstein returned to the CEA to become deputy commissioner of the mission for nuclear safety and protection. The CEA promoted him to secretary of the central commission for nuclear installation safety (commission centrale de sûreté des installations atomiques, CSSIA) within the same year. Finklestein later served as coordinator of archives and history at the CEA from 1983 until his retirement on July 1, 1988. Finkelstein later returned to France, where he died in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés on 10 September 2013, at the age of 90.

Bibliography

Cohen, Avner. "The Avner Cohen Collection." André Finkelstein. NPIHP, The Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/andre-finkelstein

References

External links

Interview with Andre Finkelstein by Avner Cohen at The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finkelstein, Andres 1923 births 2013 deaths 20th-century French chemists French expatriates in the United States International Atomic Energy Agency officials Nuclear history of France Scientists from Paris University of Rochester alumni