SBCF History

The SBCF from its origins to the present day.

By Andree Tixier-Vidal, former president of the SBCF

The SBCF as we know it today was born in 1984. Its creation was the result of a process that unfolded over several years and in several stages.

In the beginning was the microscope

Just as the invention of the microscope at the beginning of the seventeenth century led to the birth of cell theory in 1838-1839, the invention of the electron microscope, about three centuries later, laid the foundations of modern cell biology. Progress in knowledge is closely linked to the existence of learned societies, and the history of these societies often reflects the vitality of a discipline. What was the situation for cell biology in France?

At the beginning there was the French Society for Electron Microscopy. The S.F.M.E. was created in 1959 and its first president, R. Castaing, was a physicist. Later, physicists and biologists alternated as presidents, as still happens today in the SFMu. The annual meetings of the SFME were lively, animated and very enriching for young researchers, reflecting the rapid development of tissue preparation techniques and of knowledge itself.

The French Society for Cell Biology was officially created in 1983. It grew out of the SFME, so one can speak of a long « gestation ». How did this process unfold?

First stage: the French Circle for Cell Biology

The creation of the French Circle for Cell Biology was prepared by a letter from our regretted Professor Couteaux dated 3 March 1975:

The Council of the French Society for Electron Microscopy considered it useful to create a circle bringing together all those interested in cell biology and related disciplines. This circle could benefit from the administrative infrastructure of the SFME, and in particular from its secretariat, which was well experienced in organizing scientific meetings and publishing scientific works, including a periodical.

A provisional committee chaired by Nicole Le Douarin was created. The vice-president was Janine Yon, and the secretaries were Michel Bouteille, Pierre Favard and Roger Robineaux. The 12 members of the scientific committee came from very diverse scientific backgrounds: immunology, biochemistry and molecular biology, developmental biology, genetics, cancer research, cytology, pharmacology, neurobiology, photobiology, biophysics, virology and more. The objectives included organizing regular meetings, maintaining close links with existing societies, and transforming the « Journal de Microscopie Electronique » into the « Journal de Microscopie et de Biologie Cellulaire ». A circular describing the aims of the circle was sent to SFME members, together with a registration form mentioning each member’s discipline and research topic. The first CFBC meetings took place in 1976: a genetics symposium was organized in May in Marseille, followed by a broader meeting on membrane receptors in September in Paris. At that meeting, the internal regulations prepared by the provisional committee were approved by the General Assembly that followed. Legally, the CFBC was a section of the SFME, itself governed by the 1901 law and declared in June 1959. The first elections were organized to replace the provisional committee. Nicole Le Douarin’s mandate as president was renewed. At the same time, the first issue of the Journal de Microscopie et de Biologie Cellulaire, later « Biology of the Cell », was being prepared with a new International Scientific Committee.

A first activity report presented by Nicole Le Douarin in January 1978 recorded 1,122 members, showing the favorable response of the scientific community to the creation of the CFBC. The conferences organized in 1976 and 1977 brought together around 200 participants.

The activity of the CFBC also expanded at the European level. On the proposal of W. Bernhard, who was a member of the Executive Committee of ECBO, the Circle joined ECBO in 1977, as ECBO was reforming itself from a society into a federation of cell biology societies that had recently been created in several European countries. In addition, at the suggestion of John Paul, president of ECBO, the Circle organized the first European Congress of Cell Biology in Paris, from 19 to 24 July 1982. Francois Gros was president of the congress and P. Favard chaired the organizing committee. The congress brought together about 1,600 participants, including 900 from abroad and 700 from France. The CFBC also established contacts with the European Tissue Culture Society, of which I was secretary general and which was also being reorganized under the guidance of John Paul. An inventory of French laboratories using different approaches to tissue and eukaryotic cell culture was established in 1979.

Second stage: the French Society for Cell Biology

The transformation of the CFBC into a society was proposed in 1981 by the Council of the S.F.M.E., which considered that the number of members in the circle should allow it to achieve financial autonomy. The year 1982 was devoted to preparing the statutes and defining the relationship with the « parent » society. The project finally adopted was a federation bringing together the SFME, the SFBC and possibly other societies or circles. The role of the federation would be to provide member societies with secretarial, accounting and other support. This federation was named after W. Bernhard, who had recently passed away. The creation and statutes of the SFBC were approved at the General Assembly of the Circle on 21 September 1983.

Third stage: the Society for Cell Biology of France

The life of the SFBC was short. At the request of the French Society for Clinical Biology, also abbreviated S.F.B.C. and created earlier, it had to change its name to Society for Cell Biology of France (S.B.C.F.), as published in the Official Journal of 15 December 1984. At the same time, new elections established the first executive committee and the first scientific council, with Francois Gros as the first president. The scientific objectives remained those of the CFBC.

Money is also the lifeblood of learned societies

The weakness of the SBCF’s financial resources was a recurring problem for a long time. It is interesting to recall how these resources evolved.

• Originally, the CFBC had no membership fee of its own, since its members paid dues to the SFME. Later, an additional fee of 50 francs was requested.
• Within the W. Bernhard Federation, which included the S.F.M.E., the S.F.B.C., the Circle for Ultrastructural Pathology and the Circle for Quantitative Microscopy, a common basic membership fee was requested, initially 110 francs, with a small additional fee of 10 francs for each member society.
• In 1990, the S.B.C.F. assembly voted for autonomy of its membership fee, allowing members to pay either a single fee or two fees if they also belonged to the S.F.M.E. The resources of the S.B.C.F. increased slightly, but the financing of meetings remained a critical problem for a long time.

In conclusion to this brief history, I would like to emphasize the work of the Circle for Cell Biology, whose leaders laid the foundations for a community of cell biologists in France at a time when everything still had to be built. Today, the S.B.C.F. must face the impressive and essential development of cell biology on the international stage, and especially at the European level. This is the challenge of the future.

A. Tixier-Vidal
(I warmly thank Patricia Vives, who kindly gave me access to the Society’s archives, and I congratulate D. Lotte for the care given to these archives.)