Francis Irénée du Pont (December 3, 1873 – March 16, 1942) was an American

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

and executive at the E.I. du Pont de Nemours Company. He was the great grandson of its founder,

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (; ; 24 June 1771 – 31 October 1834) 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, hav ...

Biography

Francis I. du Pont was the eldest son of Francis Gurney du Pont and Elise Wigfall Simons. He was born and grew up at

Hagley Hagley is a large village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is on the boundary of the West Midlands and Worcestershire counties between the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and Kidderminster. Its estimated population was 7,162 in 2 ...

, near Greenville,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

’s Sheffield Scientific School in 1895. He was placed at his father's Carney's Point,

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facility, where he joined in the research into the development of the new smokeless powder. This product was high sought after as the military was moving towards its use. He was known for his scientific expertise and managerial abilities, became superintendent of Carney's Point, and was the first head of DuPont’s new Experimental Station research facility in 1904. When the company was reorganized following its purchase by the three cousins, Alfred I. du Pont, Pierre S. du Pont, and T. Coleman du Pont in 1903, Francis I. du Pont was named to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. With T. Coleman du Pont as President the company continued to grow, but within a few years Pierre S. du Pont became the acting president and effective leader of the company. In 1914, with the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the declining health of T. Coleman du Pont, Pierre and Coleman sought a way to have the company buy Coleman's share of the company and redistribute it to some of the most highly valued non-family members in the company management. This effort, along with other more personal factors, touched off a full scale break between the cousins. Francis sided with Alfred I. du Pont in the contest, but by 1916 they had lost control and Francis lost his seat on the Board of Directors. After leaving the company, he and his brother, Ernest du Pont, organized the U.S.F. Powder Company, which produced for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

a flashless powder for cannon. In 1922 he became Treasurer for the du Pont Motor Company and, with his son, Edmund du Pont, founded a Wall Street brokerage in 1931. In 1913, he published, through Saylor Show Print, Wilmington, DE, "Taxation: A Treatise written by F. I. DuPont" developing the ideas of

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

(1839–1897), the Philadelphia-born author of "Progress and Poverty," which remains the best-selling book ever on political economy. In his treatise, he examines various potential tax bases, and concludes that taxation of privilege, through taxation of land value, is the most desirable alternative. He calls land speculation "a gross misuse of the power of government" that ought to be abolished by taxation, in order to create prosperity. He ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Wilmington on that platform on the Progressive ticket. Du Pont was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1942. Francis I. du Pont died on March 16, 1942.

References

* * *DuPont Heritage
Francis I du Pont
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Du Pont, Francis Irenee Du Pont, Francis I. Du Pont, Francis I. Francis Irenee Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni People from Greenville, Delaware 19th-century American chemists 20th-century American chemists 20th-century American businesspeople Members of the American Philosophical Society