Claude Niépce

Chromolithograph depicting Louis Jacques Mande

Daguerre and Claude Félix Abel Niépce.

Claude Félix Abel Niépce (born 1763

probably at Chalon-sur-Saône, France –
died 1828 Kew, England) was a French
inventor and the older brother of the more
celebrated Nicéphore Niépce. 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.[1]

Life
The two brothers worked together on a
number of projects, including an
innovative hydraulic engine – the
Pyréolophore, the world's first internal
combustion engine – as well as pioneering
work in photography. Claude and
Nicéphore were granted a patent for their
internal combustion engine by the
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807. Life
in post-revolutionary France was very
difficult and by 1817 there was insufficient
progress to attract subsidy and
investment, so the ten-year patent expired.
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.[2]
This was not the key to success. Over the
next ten years, Claude remained in London,
settled in Kew and descended into
delirium, whereby he squandered much of
the family fortune chasing inappropriate
business opportunities for the
Pyréolophore.[3][4]

References
1. Claude Niépce at Cultural
Cartography.
2. "Licence issued by George III of
England on 23 December 1817" (in
 French). Niepce House Museum.
Retrieved 19 August 2010.
3. "Nicéphore Niépce" . All-art.org.
Retrieved 19 August 2010.
4. "Joseph Nicéphore Niepce Biography
(1765-1833)" . madehow.com.
Retrieved 19 August 2010.

External links
Letters of Claude Niépce translation at
Google. 1818 to 1825, Chalon-sur-Saône
Museum. Accessed April 2011
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