Fred Aftalion is a chemical engineer who has held leadership positions in the French chemical industry for three decades. Fred Aftalion has also served as Vice-President of ALEPS, the Association pour la Liberte Economique et le Progres Social. He writes and comments on economics and politics from a viewpoint of economic liberalism via ALEPS and Radio Courtoisie. He has written a number of books dealing with chemistry, industry and society. In 2014 he received the Franklin-Lavoisier Prize for his writings on the history of the international chemical industry.
Aftalion became an engineer with Hercules Inc., working in the United States and Latin America. He returned to France in 1951 and joined the petrochemical company Naphtachimie. In 1956, he became manager of the Société Française d’Organo-Synthèse, a specialty chemicals company which was part of the French pharmaceutical house Laboratoire Roger Bellon. Aftalion directed the company for the next three decades. During this time, the company moved from a 50/50 split between pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals, to a 20/80 split. After Rhône-Poulenc acquired an interest in Roger Bellon in 1964, Aftalion became a board member of Rhône-Poulenc Spécialités Chimiques. Aftalion served as president of the Société La Vermiculite et la Perlite from 1967 to 1973. He has served on the Boards of Directors of Total Chimie and of the Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie in Paris, France. Fred Aftalion became a member of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1971. He has been vice-president of ALEPS, the Association pour la Liberte Economique et le Progres Social He speaks and writes on economic and politic issues from a viewpoint of Economic liberalism via ALEPS and Radio Courtoisie. His book Histoire de la chimie, translated as A History of the InternationalChemical Industry, describes the rise of the chemical industry in the international community. It traces connections between science, industry and society. Aftalion received the 2014 Franklin-Lavoisier Prize for his writing on chemistry, industry and society.
Works
2012, Pourquoi ne pas le dire? by Fred Aftalion. Paris : Ed. du Trident, c2012.
2007, Histoire de la révolution bourgeoise : de ses origines à nos jours by Fred Aftalion. Paris : Ed. du Trident, 2007.
1995, Protection de l'environnement : pour que de fausses solutions ne deviennent pas de vrais problèmes by Fred Aftalion. Paris : Ed. France-Empire, 1995.
1993, Social-démocratie, dernier avatar du socialisme : histoire d'une utopie, 1945-1993 by Fred Aftalion. Paris : France-Empire, c1993.
