INVENTOR

Alphonse Bertillon

1853 - 1914

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Alphonse Bertillon (French: [bɛʁtijɔ̃]; 22 April 1853 – 13 February 1914) was a French police officer and biometrics researcher who applied the anthropological technique of anthropometry to law enforcement, creating an identification system based on physical measurements. Anthropometry was the first scientific system used by police to identify criminals. Before that time, criminals could only be identified by name or photograph. The method was eventually supplanted by fingerprinting. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Alphonse Bertillon is the 89th most popular inventor (up from 97th in 2019), the 1,094th most popular biography from France (up from 1,122nd in 2019) and the 13th most popular French Inventor.

Alphonse Bertillon is most famous for inventing the bertillonage system of identification, which was an early form of anthropometry. The system was based on physical measurements of body parts.

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Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Alphonse Bertillon ranks 89 out of 426Before him are Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, Oleg Antonov, Ray Tomlinson, Bi Sheng, Raymond Damadian, and Joseph Pilates. After him are Henri Coandă, Thomas Savery, André-Jacques Garnerin, Wolfgang von Kempelen, Johann Maria Farina, and Sakichi Toyoda.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1853, Alphonse Bertillon ranks 18Before him are Vladimir Solovyov, Ferdinand Hodler, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Errico Malatesta, Hans Christian Gram, and Hussein Kamel of Egypt. After him are Katharina Schratt, Princess Thyra of Denmark, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Oskar Potiorek, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, and Kitasato Shibasaburō. Among people deceased in 1914, Alphonse Bertillon ranks 21Before him are August Macke, Ismail Gaspirali, Eduard Suess, Louis Couturat, Maximilian von Spee, and Alexander Samsonov. After him are Ambrose Bierce, Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria, Alain-Fournier, Charles Péguy, John Tenniel, and Joseph Chamberlain.

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In France

Among people born in France, Alphonse Bertillon ranks 1,094 out of 6,770Before him are Adelaide of Aquitaine (950), Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre (1749), Danielle Darrieux (1917), André-Hercule de Fleury (1653), Horace Vernet (1789), and Léon Bonnat (1833). After him are Henriette of France (1727), Richard Avenarius (1843), Ambroise Thomas (1811), Cécile Chaminade (1857), Julien Green (1900), and Edmond Debeaumarché (1906).

Among INVENTORS In France

Among inventors born in France, Alphonse Bertillon ranks 13Before him are Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752), Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (1725), Louis Blériot (1872), Louis Renault (1877), Claude Chappe (1763), and Jacques de Vaucanson (1709). After him are André-Jacques Garnerin (1769), Charles-Émile Reynaud (1844), Étienne-Jules Marey (1830), Clément Ader (1841), André Michelin (1853), and Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville (1817).