JOSEPH NICEPHORE

See also:

• JOSEPH NICEPHORE NIEPCE (1765-1833)

NIEPCE (1765-1833)  , French physicist, and one of the inventors of photography, was born at Chalon-sur-Saone on the 7th of March 1765 . In 1792 he entered the army as a sub-lieutenant, and in the following year he saw active service in Italy . Ill-health and failing eyesight compelled him to resign his commission before he had risen above the rank of lieutenant; but in 1795 he was nominated administrateur of the district of Nice, and he held the post until 18o1 . Returning in that year to his birthplace, he devoted himself along with his elder brother Claude (1763–1828) to mechanical and chemical researches; and in 1811 he directed his attention to the rising art of lithography . In 1813 the idea of obtaining sun pictures first. suggested itself to him in this connexion; and in 1826 he learned that L . J . 1\I . Daguerre was working in the same direction . In 1829 the two united their forces, " pour cooperer au perfectionnement de la decouverte inventee par M . Niepce et perfectionnee par M . Daguerre " (see also PHOTOGRAPHY) . Niepce died at Gras, his property near Chalon, on the 3rd of July 1833 .

A

nephew, CLAUDE FELIx ABEL NIEPCE DE SAINT-VICTOR (1805-1870), served with distinction in the army, and also made important contributions towards the advancement of the art of photography; he published Recherches photographiques (Paris, 1855) and Traite pratique de gravure heliographique sur acier et sur verre (Paris, 1866) .