Michel Eugène Chevreul
French chemist
Died when: 102 years 221 days (1231 months)Star Sign: Virgo
Michel Eugène Chevreul (31 August 1786 – 9 April 1889) was a French chemist and centenarian whose work influenced several areas in science, medicine, and art.
His early work with animal fats revolutionized soap and candle manufacturing and led to his isolation of the heptadecanoic (margaric), stearic, and oleic fatty acids.
In the process, Chevreul became the first scientist to define the concept of a chemical compound and the first to formally characterise the nature of organic compounds; he is consequently considered a founder of modern organic chemistry.
In the medical field, he was first to demonstrate that diabetics excrete glucose in the urine and to isolate creatine.
He lived to 102 and was a pioneer in the field of gerontology.His theories of colour "provided the scientific basis for Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painting." He is one of the 72 French scientists, mathematicians, and engineers whose names are inscribed on the Eiffel Tower; of those 72, Chevreul was one of only two who were still alive when Gustave Eiffel planted the French Tricolor on the top of the tower on 31 March 1889 (the other being Hippolyte Fizeau).
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