Eleuthère Irénée du Pont
| Éleuthère Irénée du Pont | |
|---|---|
Founder
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company |
|
| Born |
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours 24 June 1771 Paris, France |
| Died | 31 October 1834 (aged 63) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Residence |
Eleutherian Mills, Greenville, Delaware |
| Nationality | French, American |
| Title | President, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company |
| Term | 1804-1834 |
| Successor | Alfred Victor Philadelphe du Pont |
| Spouse(s) | Sophie Madeleine Dalmas |
| Children | |
| Parent(s) | Nicole-Charlotte Marie-Louise le Dée de Rencourt |
| Relatives | Du Pont family |
| Signature | |
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Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (24 June 1771 – 31 October 1834), known as Irénée du Pont, or E. I. du Pont, was a French-American chemist and industrialist who founded the gunpowder manufacturer, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. His descendants, the Du Pont family, have been one of America's richest and most prominent families since the 19th century, with generations of influential businessmen, politicians and philanthropists.
Du Pont was born 24 June 1771, in Paris, the son of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours and Nicole-Charlotte Marie-Louise le Dée de Rencourt. His father was a political economist who had been elevated to the nobility in 1784 by "letters patent" granted by King Louis XVI, allowing him to carry the honorable de Nemours suffix. Growing up on his father's estate, "Bois des Fossés", near Égreville, young du Pont was enthusiastic about his studies in most subjects, and showed particular interest in explosives. Du Pont married Sophie Dalmas (1775–1828) in 1791, and they had eight children.
Du Pont sailed before his family and landed at Rhode Island on 1 January 1800, along with his father and his brother's family. By 1802, he had established both his business and his family home, Eleutherian Mills, on the Brandywine Creek in Delaware. 1 January is the anniversary of the arrival of the du Pont family in America, and this date is still celebrated by its descendants.
In the fall of 1785, du Pont entered the Collège Royal in Paris. Two years later, he was accepted by the friend of his father and noted chemist Antoine Lavoisier as a student in the Régie des poudres, the government agency responsible for the manufacture of gunpowder. It was from Lavoisier that he gained his expertise in nitrate extraction and manufacture. He studied "advanced explosives production techniques"
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