Passing Away. Professor Étienne-Émile Baulieu, father of the abortion pill, has died at the age of 98.

Professor Étienne-Émile Baulieu, inventor of the abortion pill, died this Friday at the age of 98 at his home in Paris. A physician and researcher, he was world-renowned for the scientific, medical, and societal impact of his work on the role of steroid hormones. "His research was guided by his commitment to the progress made possible by science, his commitment to women's freedom, and his desire to enable everyone to live better, longer lives," his wife, Simone Harari Baulieu, recalled in a statement announcing his death.

Born on December 12, 1926 in Strasbourg, Étienne Blum took the name Émile Baulieu when he joined the Resistance, at only 15 years old. Doctor of Medicine (1955) and Doctor of Science (1963), endocrinologist, he founded research unit 33 at Inserm in 1963, for work on hormones, which he directed until 1997 and within which he worked until the end.

He is particularly known for his development of RU 486 in 1982. This abortion pill revolutionized the lives of millions of women around the world by offering them the possibility of medically induced abortion. He then faced fierce criticism and even threats from opponents of women's right to control their reproduction.

His research on DHEA, the hormone whose secretion and anti-aging activity he discovered, led him to work on neurosteroids (nervous system steroids). He also developed a treatment for depression, for which a clinical trial is underway in several university hospitals.

In 2008, he founded the Baulieu Institute to understand, prevent, and treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. His research targets the tau protein along with another protein, FKBP52, which he had discovered and which is naturally present in the body.

Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor and Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, he has received numerous awards in France. In the United States, he was honored with the Lasker Prize, the highest American scientific distinction.

Remarried to Simone Harari Baulieu, he was widowed by Yolande Compagnon. He leaves behind three children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

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