Antoine Laurent Lavoisier

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) was a French chemist. He is regarded as the founder of modern chemistry. He published his findings about the nature of combustion in his Elementary Treatise on Chemistry (1789), which is considered the first modern textbook on chemistry. Lavoisier also helped develop a system for naming chemical substances based on their composition. This system is still in use.

Lavoisier was born in Paris. He received an excellent education and developed an interest in all branches of science, especially chemistry. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1768.

Lavoisier was arrested in 1793 by the leaders of the French Revolution. Many years earlier, he had become a partner in a firm that collected a number of taxes for the government. In spite of his achievements, Lavoisier was found guilty of conspiracy with the enemies of France because of his involvement in tax collection. He was executed by guillotine.

Excerpt adapted from the "Antoine Laurent Lavoisier" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999