| Éleuthère Irénée du Pont  AKA Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours
Born: 24-Jun-1771
Birthplace: Paris, France
Died: 31-Oct-1834
Location of death: Philadelphia, PA
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Du Pont de Nemours Cemetery, Wilmington, DE
Gender: Male
Religion: Christian
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Business Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Founder of DuPont Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours was of French nobility on his mother's side of the family, and learned the basics of chemistry from Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, the French government's gunpowder-maker. Du Pont stood with his father in defense of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette from angry mobs in 1792. As the French Revolution progressed the du Ponts were despised, and father and son fled the country in 1799. Settling in America, young Mr du Pont established the E. I. duPont de Nemours and Company in 1802 with funding from French financiers. Gunpowder made the company profitable, and made Irénée du Pont a very wealthy man even before the War of 1812 brought huge orders of gunpowder from the US government. He also operated a wool mill, a cotton mill, and a tannery, and he became a director of the Bank of the United States in 1822.
After du Pont's death in 1834, his sons expanded the gunpowder company, offering dynamite, nitroglycerine, and smokeless powder. The company is now the world's second largest chemical manufacturer, and the du Pont family remains among America's wealthiest. Father: Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (economist, b. 14-Dec-1739, d. 7-Aug-1817)
Mother: Nicole Charlotte Marie Louise le Dée de Rencourt (m. 1766)
Brother: Victor Marie du Pont de Nemours (duPont executive, b. 1-Oct-1767, d. 30-Jan-1827)
Brother: Paul François de Pont de Nemours (b. 1769, d. infancy)
Wife: Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (b. 1775, m. 1791, d. 1828, eight children)
Son: Alfred Victor du Pont (President of duPont, b. 1798, d. 1856)
Son: Amélia Elizabeth du Pont Clifford (b. 1796, d. 1869)
Son: Henry du Pont (President of duPont, b. 1812, d. 1889)
Daughter: Victorine Elizabeth du Pont Bauduy (teacher)
DuPont Founder & President (1802-1834)
Naturalized US Citizen
French Ancestry
Huguenot Ancestry
Du Pont Family
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