Camille Dreyfus (chemist)
| Camille Dreyfus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 1878 Basel, Switzerland |
| Died | 1956 |
| Nationality | Swiss, American |
| Occupation | Chemist |
| Known for | Celanese |
Camille Dreyfus (1878–1956) was a Swiss chemist. He and his brother Henri Dreyfus invented Celanese, an acetate yarn. He founded The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation in honor of his brother.
Camille Dreyfus was born in Basel, Switzerland in 1878. His brother Henri Dreyfus was born four years later, in 1882. The brothers both went to school in Basel and then studied at the Sorbonne, Paris. Their father was involved with a chemical factory. In 1901 Dreyfus earned a PhD from the University of Basel with the highest honors. The brothers began experimenting in a small laboratory in a comer of the garden of their father's house in Basel. Their first achievement was to develop synthetic indigo dyes.
In 1908 the two brothers turned to developing cellulose acetate, including scientific investigation of the properties of the compound and commercial exploitation. This would consume the rest of their lives. The initial goal was to create a safe and non-flammable alternative to celluloid, then used for motion pictures and photography. By 1910 they had perfected plastic film and acetate lacquers, or aircraft dope.
On 12 December 1912 Henri and Camille Dreyfus, funded by the entrepreneur Alexander Clavel-Respinger, set up a factory in Basel, Cellonit Gesellschaft Dreyfus & Co., to produce fireproof celluloid from cellulose acetate. The Cellonit company, founded in 1913, was innovative in developing new film materials. The Paris-based Pathé cinema equipment manufacturer became a customer, and the company's lacquers were used for German Zeppelins and airplanes. Demand for acetate lacquers grew steadily as the aircraft industry expanded.
Camille and Henri Dreyfus moved to Britain in 1916 during World War I (July 1914 - November 1918) to supervise construction of a factory to make cellulose acetate dope, used to make the wood-and-fabric airplanes of the day fire-resistant and waterproof. A company was established to operate the factory with 160,000 shares, of which the Dreyfus brothers and Alexander Clavel received 79,998, the Prudential Trust of Canada 40,470, Vickers Ltd. 19,800 and the remainder to smaller investors. The plant was built at Spondon, Derbyshire, and the brothers were housed at The Homestead, a large Georgian house. Many factors conspired to thwart Camille Dreyfus's plan to open the factory by August 1916, including labor issues, late delivery of equipment and shortage of supplies due to competing war-time priorities. In the meantime, cellulose acetate was delivered from the Basle factory under a 1915 contract.
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