Victor Joseph Planchon (12 January 1863,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

- 1 February 1935,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

) was a French chemist. He worked with the

Lumière brothers Lumière is French for 'light'. Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to: * Lumières, the philosophical movement in the Age of Enlightenment People *Auguste and Louis Lumière, French pioneers in film-making Film and TV * Institut Lumière, ...

to develop a celluloid emulsion process.

Biography

At the age of fifteen, he joined the staff at a government laboratory in Paris; doing work for the patent office and

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

. It was there that he learned chemistry and photography. In 1887, after a short stay at a similar laboratory in

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

, he went to

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

, where he later became Director of the Port Control Laboratory. Originally interested in

photographic plate Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a capture medium in photography, and were still used in some communities up until the late 20th century. The light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was coated on a glass plate, typically thinn ...

s, he switched to studying

celluloid Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common contemporar ...

; attempting to create a completely flat surface. The solution involved self-tensioning frames, similar to those used for the glass plates. His technique was so successful that he founded a company to produce the new film: the Union Photographique de Boulogne. He was already acquainted with

Louis Lumière Louis Jean Lumière (5 October 1864 Besançon – 6 June 1948, Bandol) was a French engineer and industrialist who played a key role in the development of photography and cinema. Early life and education Lumière was one of four children of ...

so, after a meeting in Paris, he took a roll of the new film to Lyon, where the Lumières were inspired to create the

cinematograph Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the Cin ...

. This was followed by a contract between the two companies. The Lumières would use his film exclusively, and he would produce his film with their "Blue Label" plate emulsifier. Shortly after, he settled in Lyon and established the "Société anonyme des Pellicules françaises", known as PLAVIC (PLAnchon VICtor). Through 1914, the company supplied millions of meters of film. To achieve this level of production, he built three groups of factories in

Feyzin Feyzin () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas region ...

, which were capable of producing 40,000 meters per day, as well as preparing the necessary raw materials, Following

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 ...

, competition from the

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

factories in

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attached ...

led Planchon to convert some of his factory output to the production of artificial silk, under the direction of , as he had no descendants of his own. In 2012, the city of Boulogne-sur-Mer established the "Place Victor-Planchon". Two statues have been installed there; one of Planchon and one of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

.Victor Planchon - Boulogne-sur-mer
@ Waymarking

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Planchon, Victor 1863 births 1935 deaths 19th-century French chemists 19th-century French inventors French industrialists History of film Scientists from Paris

Biography

References

Further reading

External links