Chaptal

Chaptal, Jean Antoine (1756-1832), a French chemist and statesman. Born at Nogaret, Lozere, he studied chemistry at Montpellier, and obtained his doctor's degree in 1777, and went to Paris. In 1781 he was recalled to Montpellier to occupy a chair of chemistry there founded, and inheriting a fortune from an uncle he established chemical works. His labours brought on him the attention of Government, which gave him the cordon of St. Michael, and ennobled him as Comte de Chanteloup. The publication of a political pamphlet caused his arrest, but he was soon liberated. In 1798 the First Consul made him a councillor of state, and he was minister of the interior after Lucien Bonaparte. In this capacity he did much for art and science, being among other things the introducer of the metrical system of weights and measures. He retired from office in 1804, but the Emperor gave him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. After the downfall of Napoleon he retired into private life, but in 1816 Louis XVIII. nominated him a member of the Institute of Sciences.