Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent, 1743-1794

French chemist and government administrator, considered the founder of modern chemistry.

From the description of Géographie minéralogique de la France / [par] Lavoisier et Guettard, 177-? (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 123487897

From the description of Géographie minéralogique de la France / [par] Lavoisier et Guettard, 177-? (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 63938887

En 1775, Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier (1743-1794) fut nommé régisseur des poudres et salpêtres. Il s’installa à l’Arsenal qui devint, avec l’installation de son laboratoire, l’un des centres scientifiques les plus réputés d’Europe. Il est le créateur de la chimie moderne. Il fut le premier à faire progresser les conceptions théoriques de la chimie. Il découvrit le rôle de l’oxygène dans la combustion, étudia la formation des acides phosphorique, sulfurique et nitrique, ainsi que la composition du gaz carbonique. Il plaça l’oxygène au centre de son système. Fermier général depuis 1779, Lavoisier avait épousé Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze, fille d’un fermier général. La loi du 7 août 1791 créa une commission chargée de liquider les affaires de la Ferme générale. Tous les fermiers généraux furent arrêtés le 24 décembre 1793 et traînés devant le tribunal révolutionnaire. Ils furent condamnés à la peine de mort. Lavoisier ayant demandé un délai de grâce pour terminer ses travaux, le président du tribunal lui aurait déclaré : « la République n’a pas besoin de savants ». Lavoisier périt sur l’échafaud en 1794.

Information extraite de la notice des Archives nationals de France (FRAN_NP_050534)

French scientist.

From the description of Autograph letter signed : Paris, to M. Parisis fils, at Villers-Cotterêts, a relative, 1790 Dec. 9. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270596941

French chemist.

From the description of Letter, 1791, Mar. 20 : Paris, to M. Doirée, Valence. (Duke University). WorldCat record id: 35130852

French chemist and physicist, regarded as the founder of modern chemistry; also an important French government official, active in the Régie des poudres and Ferme générale, who also served as treasurer of the Académie des sciences.

From the description of Lavoisier manuscript collection, 1770-1794 (bulk). (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 63934972

French chemist and physicist, regarded as the founder of modern chemistry; also an important French government official, active in the Régie des poudres and Ferme générale, who also served as treasurer of the Académie des sciences.

Lavoisier's wife, Marie-Anne-Pierrette Lavoisier (née Paulze), was a talented artist who studied with Jacques-Louis David. She drew the illustrations for her husband's seminal Traité élémentaire de chimie (1789), assisted Lavoisier in the laboratory, and also translated the work of English chemists such as Richard Kirwan so that Lavoisier would be able to read them.

From the description of Lavoisier artifacts, circa 1750-1794. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 465670416

Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) was trained as a geologist and lawyer at the University of Paris. In 1764 he turned his attention to the study of chemistry. During the 1770s he was a key figure in the Chemical Revolution. His experimental work focused on identifying the properties of gases, (hydrogen and oxygen), acids, and water. He played a critical role in developing the first tables of chemical nomenclature.

Lavoisier applied his scientific principles in an effort to develop a better gunpowder. While on the faculty of the University of Paris he supervised the work of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont who in 1802 established the first Du Pont powder works on the banks of the Brandywine River in Delaware.

Lavoisier was a critic of the old regime, in France but as a tax farmer was marked for punishment by the revolutionaries. He was arrested on December 24, 1793, and executed on May 8, 1794.

From the description of Papers, 1785 [microform]. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122558522