Louis Camille Maillard

French physician and chemist

Louis Camille Maillard (/m//aɪ/'/j//ɑr/ myYAR; lwi kamij majaʁ; 4 February 1878 – 12 May 1936) was a French physician and chemist. He made important contributions to the study of kidney disorders. He also became known for the "Maillard reaction", the chemical reaction which he described in 1912, by which amino acids and sugars react in foods via contact with fats, giving a browned, flavorful surface to everything from bread and seared steaks to toasted marshmallows.

Louis Camille Maillard was born on 4 February 1878 in Pont à Mousson, France. Maillard obtained his Masters of Science in Nancy in 1897 and his Doctor of Medicine in 1903. He then worked in the Chemical Division of the School of Medicine at the University of Nancy. On 6 June 1910, Maillard married Jeanne Louise Faisans. In 1914, he moved to Paris where he worked as head of the biological group in the Chemical Laboratory at the University of Paris. In 1919 he was appointed as a professor of biological and medical chemistry at the University of Algiers Division of Pharmacy, Academy of Medicine.

In Paris, his work on physiology, in particular the metabolism of urea and kidney illnesses, led him to introduce new theories about "urogenic imperfection" and the concept of the "coefficient of Maillard" or "index of ureogenic imperfection." His ideas proved very useful in the diagnosis of kidney disorders. In 1912, he undertook studies of the reaction between amino acids and sugars. This work is considered one of his major contributions, and the Maillard reaction was named after him. For this variety of work he received several awards including the French Academy of Medicine award in 1914.

Maillard enrolled in the French army during the First World War, but his health was adversely affected. After the war, Maillard abruptly left Paris in 1919 to occupy a position with the Department of Pharmacy at the Faculty of Medicine Sciences in Algiers (Algeria). During this time, he ceased practically all research. He died suddenly on May 12, 1936, in Paris, while judging a competition for a fellowship.