Charles Boursin (1901–1971)[1] was a French entomologist,[1][2] born into a comfortable bourgeois Catholic family in Nantes.

On arriving in Paris from Nantes in 1920, he immediately made contact with Parisian entomological circles, and in 1922 was admitted as a member to the Societe Entomologique de France and helped in the creation of L'amateur de Papillons, and with his new colleagues and friends hunted Lepidoptera in Colmars-les_Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes and elsewhere[2] At this time, welcomed by Professor Louis Bouvier, he also began to work as a volunteer at the entomological laboratories of Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, where he worked to classify the Noctuidae and many other insect groups.

[2] A close friend of fellow member of the editorial committee (and assassinated minister in the Vichy government), Phillipe Henriot, together with his close friendships with German entomologists led to his dismissal on 5 September 1944 from the chair of entomology at the museum, followed on 24 October 1944 by his expulsion from the Societe Entomologique de France,[2] and never again published in L'Amateur de Papillons.

[2] Just prior to his death, Alfred Balachowsky (director of the entomology section of MNHN) obtained a position for him at the museum, together with a grant from the CNRS.

[2] In 1967 the collection consisted of 29,245 specimens of Trifinae (including 171 holotypes, 1990 paratypes, 3800 genital preparations and 12000 photos).