The Resume

(August 19, 1932-February 8, 2022)
Born in Chabris, France
Virologist
Co-credited, with Robert Gallo, with discovering the HIV virus
Co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2008)

Why he might be annoying:

The feud between him and Gallo over who discovered the HIV virus required the intervention of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Francois Mitterrand to settle. (Result: Montagnier was credited with first isolating the virus, Gallo was credited with demonstrating the virus caused AIDS, and the US and French governments split patent royalties on the AIDS detection test.)
He claimed that bacterial DNA produced electromagnetic signals that could be detected even after the DNA had been diluted to the point that no DNA molecules remained in the solution, a result that seemingly supported homeopathy (2009).
He avoided peer review by publishing the results in a journal that he is the editor of.
Comments from scientists about his published paper included ‘important experimental steps are described dismissively in a sentence’ and ‘one of the most unprofessional write-ups I’ve ever run across.’
He claimed an ‘intellectual terror’ prevented the publication of pro-homeopathic research.
He called Jacques Benveniste – who got his pro-homeopathy research on ‘water memory’ published in ‘Nature’ before an investigation by ‘Nature’ editor John Maddox and skeptic James Randi discredited him – ‘a modern Galileo.’
He later descended into complete medical quackery by endorsing the notion that vaccines cause autism (2012).

Why he might not be annoying:

When he was five, he was hit by a speeding car and spent two days in a coma.
He was named a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor (2009).
When Gallo was not included among the winners of the Nobel Prize, Montagnier commented, ‘It was important to prove that HIV was the cause of AIDS, and Gallo had a very important role in that. I'm very sorry for Robert Gallo.’

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Scientists
• 21st Century Scientists
• Anti-Vaxxers
• Brothers and Sisters, I Have None
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 65]
• I am a Citizen of France
• I Attended University of Paris
• I Died in 2022 (Ranked: 89)
• I Earned a Doctorate
• Newseum's 100 Stories of the Century (Ranked: 18)
• Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (Ranked: 2008)
• Profiles 41006-41250 (Ranked: 41072)
• Scientists

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 135 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 29 Votes: 27.59% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 87 Votes: 55.17% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying