Claude Félix Abel Niépce (1764 – early 1828) was a French inventor and the older brother of the more celebrated

Nicéphore Niépce Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (; 7 March 1765 – 5 July 1833) was a French inventor and one of the earliest History of photography, pioneers of photography. Niépce developed heliography, a technique he used to create the world's oldest surviving ...

. Claude traveled to England to try to find a sponsor for their internal combustion engine and died there. His brother's later successful development of photography has eclipsed the part played by Claude.

Life

Claude Félix Abel Niépce was born to Claudine Thérèse Augustine (née De Courteville) and Bernard Niepce, a lawyer, on 28 October 1764, in

Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefectu ...

, in

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

. His family of landowners had connections to the Royal Court. His younger brother Nicéphore, who during the French Revolution had served in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, retired from the army in 1794 to recover from an eye disorder, and settled in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millioninternal-combustion engine. In 1801, they returned to oversee the family estate, Le Gras, in the village of

Saint-Loup-de-Varennes Saint-Loup-de-Varennes (, literally ''Saint-Loup of Varennes-le-Grand, Varennes'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern Fr ...

, near Chalon and there they worked together on a number of projects, including the innovative hydraulic engine powered by a mixture of coal dust and lycopodium powder – the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion boat motor – which they tested successfully on the nearby River Saône. Responding to the imperial government's public competition in 1807, the brothers developed a hydraulic pump system to replace the one at Bougival, on the Seine river, used to deliver water to the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

which pumped water up an elevation of one kilometre. They proposed a simpler system requiring only two pump housings, two pistons, three valves, and a ram. They were unsuccessful; the submission eventually accepted in 1809, and subsequently built, was Jacques-Constantin Périer's steam engine. Claude and Nicéphore were granted a patent for their internal combustion engine by the Emperor

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in 1807. They continued experimentation, using liquid fuel instead of powder, including a natural

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

known as

Bitumen of Judea Bitumen of Judea is a naturally occurring asphalt used since antiquity as a wood colorant, and in early photography as a light-sensitive coating. Wood coloration usage Bitumen of Judea may be used as a colorant for wood for an aged, natural ...

, and in the process developed in effect the first fuel injection system. Life in post-revolutionary France was difficult and by 1817 they could not attract subsidy and investment, so the ten-year patent expired, despite the improvements to its design. Worried about losing control of the engine, Claude traveled first to Paris and then to England in an attempt to further the project. He received the patent consent of King George III on 23 December 1817. The patent was not the key to success, however. Over the next ten years, Claude remained in London, settled in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

and suffered increasing mental illness which caused him to squander much of the family fortune chasing inappropriate business opportunities for the Pyréolophore. Independently, from 1816, Nicéphore experimented with the use of the light-sensitive resins, including the bitumen of Judea previously used as a fuel for the pyréolophore, to coat lithographs stones or plates intended for ink printing as a means of reproducing camera images. In around 1824, he succeeded in producing the first permanent lens images, samples of which he brought to London, via Paris, to visit Claude who had fallen ill. Claude died in early 1828. Their cousin army lieutenant Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor was also a photographic inventor.

References

External links

Letters of Claude Niépce
translation at Google. 1818 to 1825, Chalon-sur-Saône Museum. Accessed April 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Niepce, Claude 1764 births 1828 deaths People from Chalon-sur-Saône Pioneers of photography 19th-century French inventors 19th-century French engineers