CHEMIST

Leo Baekeland

1863 - 1944

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Leo Hendrik Baekeland ( BAYK-land, Dutch: [ˈleːjoː ˈɦɛndrɪɡ ˈbaːkəlɑnt]; November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944) was a Belgian chemist. Educated in Belgium and Germany, he spent most of his career in the United States. He is best known for the inventions of Velox photographic paper in 1893, and Bakelite in 1907. He has been called "The Father of the Plastics Industry" for his invention of Bakelite, an inexpensive, non-flammable and versatile plastic, which marked the beginning of the modern plastics industry. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Leo Baekeland is the 217th most popular chemist (up from 231st in 2019), the 117th most popular biography from Belgium (up from 150th in 2019) and the 4th most popular Belgian Chemist.

Leo Baekeland is most famous for inventing the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite.

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Among CHEMISTS

Among chemists, Leo Baekeland ranks 217 out of 602. Before him are Johann Wilhelm Ritter, Nikolay Semyonov, Paul Lauterbur, Kenichi Fukui, Geoffrey Wilkinson, and Sophia Brahe. After him are Osamu Shimomura, Giulio Natta, C. N. R. Rao, Ahmed Zewail, Johan Gottlieb Gahn, and John Newlands.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1863, Leo Baekeland ranks 29. Before him are Max Wolf, Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, Werner Sombart, Vladimir Vernadsky, Reginald Innes Pocock, and George Santayana. After him are Essad Pasha Toptani, Heinrich Rickert, Paul Painlevé, Reinhard Scheer, Leopold Berchtold, and Annie Jump Cannon. Among people deceased in 1944, Leo Baekeland ranks 57. Before him are Max Jacob, Eduard Dietl, Nikolai Vatutin, Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, Princess Mafalda of Savoy, and Florence Foster Jenkins. After him are Ida Tarbell, Cécile Chaminade, Jakob von Uexküll, Jean Giraudoux, Mildred Harris, and Hans-Valentin Hube.

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In Belgium

Among people born in Belgium, Leo Baekeland ranks 117 out of 1,190. Before him are Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502), Peyo (1928), Jean-Marie Pfaff (1953), Eugène Ysaÿe (1858), Elio Di Rupo (1951), and Félicien Rops (1833). After him are Henri Pirenne (1862), Ferdinand Verbiest (1623), Adriaen Brouwer (1605), Paul Deschanel (1855), Jacques Arcadelt (1507), and Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522).

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Among CHEMISTS In Belgium

Among chemists born in Belgium, Leo Baekeland ranks 4. Before him are Jan Baptist van Helmont (1580), Yves Chauvin (1930), and Ernest Solvay (1838). After him are George Sarton (1884), Jean Stas (1813), and Gilbert Stork (1921).

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