Luc MontagnierNobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of the AIDS virus, passed away at the age of 89 in a hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, announced the mayor of that town, Jean-Christophe Fromantin.
The French researcher, who later became a controversial figure in the scientific community, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2008 for having identified the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 1983 along with his colleagues Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Jean-Claude Chermann.
However, his aura has been tarnished in recent years after several statements that sparked enormous controversy and led him to be rejected by his colleagues.
Since 2017, he has made repeated statements against vaccines and in the last two years he has reappeared making statements about the coronavirus, responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic, which were refuted by the scientific community.
Those positions instead earned him the sympathy of the anti-vaccine movements.
Reports of Montagnier’s death had been circulating on the internet since Wednesday but could not be confirmed at first, as the family did not speak to the press and the main investigative bodies to which he belonged said they could not confirm the information.
This unusual lack of information surrounding such a well-known figure seemed to be a reflection of Montagnier’s recent standing in the scientific community.
decisive role
“Today we praise the decisive role of Luc Montagnier in the joint discovery of HIV,” said the AIDS association Aides.
“This was a fundamental step forward, but sadly followed by several years during which he moved away from science, a fact that we cannot hide,” he added.
Montagnier made his key discovery about HIV in the early 1980s, when AIDS cases began to skyrocket and infected people had little chance of survival.
His findings laid the groundwork for AIDS treatments.launched 15 years later, which would allow patients to lead almost normal lives despite the disease.
The discovery was followed by a long dispute between Montagnier and the team of American researcher Robert Gallo over its authorship.
They agreed that the French had isolated the virus, while the American had established its direct link to AIDS.
His positions against Covid vaccines, while raising his public profile during the pandemic, also found little support among scientists.
The initial tributes came from fringe political and scientific figures with anti-vaccination positions. They included far-right politician Florian Philippot, who launched weekly anti-vaccine protests across France.
“They dragged him through the mud even though he was right about Covid,” Philippot said of Montagnier on Twitter.
Virologist Didier Raoult, marginalized among researchers for advocating anticovid treatments without scientific proof, praised Montagnier’s “originality” and “independence”.
The only immediate reaction from the government of President Emmanuel Macron came from Research Minister Frederique Vidal, who said she was “moved” and offered condolences to Montaigne’s family, without mentioning his recent scientific positions.