Émile Duclaux
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Émile Duclaux (June 24, 1840 - February 5, 1904) was a French biologist and chemist who was born in Aurillac. In 1862 he was an assistant in the laboratory of Louis Pasteur. Later he became a professor in Tours (1865), Clermont-Ferrand (1866), Lyon (1873) and Paris (1878). For much of his career he was associated with the work of Louis Pasteur.
Duclaux's work was mainly in the fields of chemistry, bacteriology and agriculture. With Pasteur he collaborated in the study of silkworm diseases, and also took part in experiments to debunk the theory of spontaneous generation. Duclaux undertook studies of phylloxera; an aphid-like pest that plagued grape vineyards. He did research on the chemical transformation of milk to cheese, as well as the fermentation processes of beer. Also, as a college professor he taught classes in meteorology and physics.
In 1887, with Charles Chamberland, Jacques-Joseph Grancher, Edmond Nocard and Pierre Paul Émile Roux he belonged to the first editorial board of the Pasteur Institute. After Pasteur's death, Duclaux was director of the Institute from 1895 until 1904, with Roux and Chamberland serving as sub-directors.
Duclaux was a prolific writer, some of his better known publications were Traité de microbiologie, L'hygiène sociale, Ferments et maladies and Pasteur, histoire d'un esprit, which was a biography dedicated to Pasteur. Duclaux also was actively involved in French politics and was a vocal supporter of Alfred Dreyfus, who was unjustly accused of treason. Duclaux's second wife Agnes Mary Frances Duclaux (maiden name Agnes Mary Frances Robinson) was a well-known author, and his son Jacques Eugène Duclaux was a highly-regarded chemist.
