Nicolas Leblanc (1742-1806) was a French surgeon and chemist who discovered how to manufacture soda from common salt. The "Leblanc process" was key to making soap, glass and other products from soda ash.

Nicolas Leblanc was born on January 6, 1742, in Ivoy-le-Pre, France. His father, a minor official at an iron works, died in 1751. Leblanc was sent to Bourges to live with Dr. Bien, a close family friend. Under the influence of his guardian, Leblanc developed an interest in medicine. When Bien died in 1759, Leblanc enrolled at the Ecole de Chirurgie in Paris to study medicine.

Graduating with a master's degree in surgery, Leblanc opened a medical practice. He married in 1775, and the couple's first child followed four years later. Unable to provide adequately for his family on the medical fees he obtained from his patients, Leblanc in 1780 accepted a position as the private physician to the household of...