Éleuthère Irénée du Pont

Lore & Background

Du Pont was born in Paris, the son of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours and Nicole-Charlotte Marie-Louise le Dée de Rencourt. He was a Huguenot and showed particular interest in explosives. In 1787, he became a student of noted chemist Antoine Lavoisier at the Régie des poudres, gaining expertise in nitrate extraction and manufacture. After a brief apprenticeship, he worked at a government-owned powder works in Essonne but quit after Lavoisier left.

Du Pont sailed to the United States, landing at Newport, Rhode Island on 1 January 1800, along with his father and his brother's family. By 1802, he had established both his business and his family home, Eleutherian Mills, on the Brandywine Creek in Delaware. The company was capitalized at $36,000 with 18 shares at $2,000 each, and the first gunpowder was produced in April 1804.

Reader's Guide

Du Pont's significance lies in founding a company that became one of the largest and most successful American corporations. By the mid-19th century it was the largest supplier of gunpowder to the U.S. military, and supplied as much as 40 percent of the powder used by the Union Army during the American Civil War. His descendants, the du Pont family, have been one of the richest and most prominent American families since the 19th century, with generations of influential businessmen, politicians and philanthropists. Du Pont's expertise in chemistry and gunpowder making, gained from Lavoisier, allowed him to reform the American refining process and produce higher-quality gunpowder. His legacy includes the continued operation of the company and the annual celebration of his 1 January 1800 arrival in the United States by his descendants.

Did You Know?

• Du Pont was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1807.
• He was a Huguenot.
• His father was arrested in 1794, only avoiding execution because of the end of the Reign of Terror.
• Du Pont's gun misfired during a hunting trip, leading him to reflect on his powder-making apprenticeship with Lavoisier.