text: Alain Berton was born in Coro Coro in Bolivia on 27 August 1912. He was the son of Adrien Berton, a mining engineer, and Justine Rodriguez. He was educated at the Lycée Hoche in Versailles, and became a chemical engineer at the Chemical Institute of the University of Paris in 1933. From 1935 to 1937 he was a Ramsay Fellow at the Institute of Technology in London, in the laboratory of Prof. William Lawrence Bragg, at the Royal Institution. He began his career in 1938 at the French National Centre for Scientific Research as a "boursier" (fellow) in Georges Urbains laboratory (dedicated to war chemical studies, protection against poison gas). Following Georges Urbains death that same year, he was assigned to Paul Lebeau's laboratory as "chargé de recherche" (researcher). From 1959 till 1969 he was head of research. In parallel, from 1959 to 1978, he was head of the Toxicology Laboratory for the Regional Social Security Fund in Paris.