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Christian Amatore, born in Sidi-Bel-Abbès, Algeria, is a distinguished French chemist known for his pioneering contributions to electrochemistry. He was educated at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris, where he received his Agregation in chemistry in 1974. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Paris VII under the supervision of Jean-Michel Savéant (1979). 

Amatore’s early career included a postdoctoral fellowship at Indiana University, Bloomington (1982-1983), where he worked with Professor Jay K. Kochi and collaborated with Mark Wightman. In 1984, he returned to France to establish his laboratory at the ENS, where he later served as Director of the Chemistry Department from 1997 to 2006. He became Full Professor in 1984, and is at present Emeritus Professor of the highest exceptional rank at ENS and at University Pierre and Marie Curry, and Professor (2009) and Distinguished Visiting Scientist (2017) at Xiamen University, China.

Throughout his illustrious career, Amatore has received numerous awards, including the CNRS Silver Medal (1993), the Reilley Award from the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry (2002), the Bourke Medal from the Royal Society of Chemistry (2006), and the Lavoisier Medal from the French Chemical Society (2019).  He is a member of several prestigious academies, including the French Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Academia Europaea, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon. He is Honorary Professor and Doctor honoris causa of eight major universities worldwide and Knight of the French Legion of Honor, among other honors.

Amatore’s research has profoundly influenced molecular electrochemistry, particularly through the development of ultramicroelectrodes and their applications to the study of complex chemical and biological systems. His work has provided critical insights into the mechanisms of organic and organometallic reactions, as well as neurotransmitter release at the single cell level.