Turgan studied at the collège royal de Saint-Louis where he excelled in Latin version (1838).

He stood out in 1848 by his acts of devotion during the days of June and during the cholera epidemic.

[2] A scientific editor for L'Événement then at the Le Bien-être universel, he established La Fabrique, la ferme, l'atelier (1851–1853), a popular science newspaper.

Assistant manager of the Journal officiel (1852–1858), a friend of Théophile Gautier,[3] he became director of Le Moniteur universel in 1852.

He was also a resident member of the Science section of the "Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques" (1870–1877).