Antoine Béchamp (1816-1908)

French chemist, pharmacist and physician, professor in Strasbourg, Montpellier and Lille. In 1854 he described the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds with iron and acid, the Béchamp reduction, which made cheap aniline available and was the basis of the synthetic dye industry.

In 1859 he prepared arsanilic acid, from which atoxyl, one of the first synthetic drugs, was derived. He was a bitter rival of Louis Pasteur.

More information: en.wikipedia.org