Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga

Professor
Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga
Ratsimamanga in 1972
Malagasy ambassador to France
In office
1960–1972
Malagasy ambassador to China and USSR
In office
1972–1974
Personal details
Born28 December 1907
Antananarivo, French Madagascar
Died16 September 2001(2001-09-16) (aged 93)
Antananarivo, Madagascar
CitizenshipMadagascar, France
SpouseSuzanne Urverg-Ratsimamanga
EducationUniversity of Antananarivo
University of Paris
Pasteur Institute
AwardsMan of the Century, Madagascar
Grand Cross, Madagascar
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Legion of Honour, France
National Order of the Lion, Senegal
Ordre des Palmes académiques
Order of Merit, Congo - Brazzaville
Ordre national du Mérite, France
Grand Prize, Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences
Scientific career
FieldsNutraceutical
Pharmacopoeia
Herbal medicine
InstitutionsFrench National Centre for Scientific Research
Malagasy Institute of Applied Research
UNESCO
FAO

Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga (28 December 1907 – 16 September 2001) was a Malagasy physician, biochemist and diplomat. Born into a disgraced royal family; Ratsimamanga trained as a doctor of exotic medicine in French Madagascar and France, where he pioneered modern nutraceuticals. Ratsimamanga returned to Madagascar and, with his wife, Suzanne Urverg-Ratsimamanga, in 1957, established the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research [fr] which specialised in herbal medicine.

While in France, Ratsimamanga was involved in Madagascar's independence efforts, and after independence, he became the Malagasy Republic's first ambassador to France and helped shape its foreign affairs. Ratsimamanga is considered one of Madagascar's most renowned scholars and bestowed upon him the highest orders of merits nationally and internationally. He was also one of the founders of The World Academy of Sciences (1983) and the African Academy of Sciences (1985), and was selected Madagascar's Man of the Century.