Claude Louis Bertollet

[19th century]

Mellor Papers. Box 15

Unpublished

This drawing of Claude Louis Berthollet (1748-1822) used to hang above the fireplace in Joseph Mellor’s library. French chemist Berthollet graduated in medicine from the University of Turin and worked for many years as a doctor in Paris before turning his attention towards chemical science. A contemporary of ‘the Father of Modern Chemistry’ Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-94), Berthollet conducted research into chlorine gas and from his studies was the first to develop ‘liquid bleach’. Mellor researched the reaction between chlorine and hydrogen in his own doctoral studies at Owens College, Manchester.