François Joseph Houtou de Labillardière (1796–1867): a Case of Desertion in Nineteenth-Century Chemistry

Abstract

This paper is about the life and scientific achievements of François Joseph Houtou de Labillardière, a French chemist from the first half of the nineteenth century who is quite unknown, but who made some significant contributions to chemical research in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. His retirement from chemical research at the age of 37 years had two main causes: his personal enrichment, owing to family inheritances and to profitable contributions to the chemistry of dyes; and his personal disputes with different, well-known colleagues of the time, such as Payen and Gay-Lussac.