The words “Société chimique” were first used in June 1857, when two young Italians and one young Frenchman, all studying for the licence degree, joined together in Paris for mutual assistance, and applied this name to their new club. Within 18 months, this tiny, private self-study club of mostly foreign chemistry students in Paris was transformed into France's national chemical society, parallel to the Chemical Society of London (founded 17 years earlier). And within a few years, the Société chimique formed a principal means of advancing the interests of chemists in France.¹ This chapter examines the mixed successes achieved during the first 60 years of this important European scientific society.²