Abstract:

Michel Eugène Chevreul (31 August 1786 – 9 April 1889) lived more than 102 years. He went to Paris to learn chemistry in Nicolas Vauquelin’s Laboratory at the National Museum of Natural History in the Jardin des Plantes. He became his assistant in 1810 and in 1830, he succeeded as professor of organic chemistry at the Museum of which he assumed the directorship at seven times, during 29 years till 1879. Chevreul’s scientific work covered a very wide range; the best known is for the researches in organic chemistry on fats and coloring matter. He published Recherches sur les corps gras d’origine animale in 1823. He discovered the composition of stearin (solid parts of most animal and vegetable fats) and olein (liquid part of any fat). He isolated and characterized stearic and oleic acids, and also cholesterol and named it cholesterine. On account of his works on coloring matter, he was named Director of the dye work at the Gobelins Manufactory. He received many complaints about the dyes used for the tapestry: he determined that each color perceived was influenced by other bordering, and his researches on color contrasts leaded at De la loi du contraste simultanédes couleurs, 1839. These works had a great influence on advanced painting-art in Europe and particularly Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism (i.e., Delacroix, Seurat, Signac, Van Gogh).Until his death Chevreul worked and took interest for all innovations: construction of the Eiffel Tower, development of photography. For his 100th birthday in 1886, Félix Nadar made the first photo-interview in history.

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