Le pharmacien Jacques Personne (1816-1880), pionnier de la chimie analytique

Abstract

The Pharmacist Jacques Personne (1816-1880), a Pioneer in Analytical Chemistry ; Born in Saulieu (Cote-d'Or), a city in Burgundy, Jacques Personne began an apprenticeship in pharmacy in 1833. Orphaned in 1837 when his father, a lime-burner, died in an accident, Personne underwent great hardship and moved to a pharmacy in Paris. After competitive examinations in 1839, he became a hospital intern and began working under Antoine Bussy, Director of the School of Pharmacy in Paris. Another competitive examination qualified him as chief hospital pharmacist, a post he held in three successive Paris hospitals until his death. His connection with the School of Pharmacy in Paris was continuous from 1843 to 1880, first as « preparateur », then « chef de travaux » and finally as lecturer in analytical chemistry. Personne carried on almost four decades of unremitting research, mainly on triglycerides in the blood and lead in florus auriantiae hydrolatum. He discovered iodine in a small moss growing in fresh water near Saulieu. He carried out a complete work of chloral, isolating new crystalline hemiacetals. Personne established many volumetric methods of analysis and studied the chemical analysis of various natural products. He was admitted to the Academy of Medicine in 1875.