1767-1804

French engineer and chemist who pioneered experiments in the application of gas for light, heat, and power, and the recovery of by-products (patented in 1799). In 1801 Lebon headed the first public demonstration of gas for lighting and heating at the Hôtel Seignelay in Paris, using thermolamps he had developed in 1799. His experiments and exhibitions proved the practical application of inflammable gas. Lebon's career was cut short by his brutal murder on Paris' Champs Elysées in 1804.