[Raphaël Dubois, from pharmacy to bioluminescence].

The personality of Raphaël Dubois (1849-1929), pharmacist, physician, professor at the Faculty of sciences of Lyon, is called to mind. He is recognized by the international community as the discoverer of the important phenomena of bioluminescence and his mechanism. Mainly physiologist, he showed a large and varied scientific activity from biophysic to marine biology supported by his culture in many disciplines, started by his pharmaceutical education. He displayed also an inquestionable independant feeling, breaking readily with the time's scientific conformity.