Claude-François-Dorothée, marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans

Claude -François -Gabriel - Dorothée Jouffroy d' Abban ( born September 30, 1751 Roches- sur -Rognon, Haute- Marne, France, † July 18, 1832 in Paris) was an engineer, inventor and infantry officer and is in France regarded as the first inventor of the steamboat.

Family

Claude François Jouffroy d' Abban was the son of the Marquis Claude Eugène Jean Jouffroy d' Abbans (1715-1796) and Jeanne Henriette de Pons Rennepont ( 1717-1793 ). He had a younger brother Claude Balthazar Jouffroy d' Abbans (1757-1792) and a sister Marie Elisabeth Jouffroy d' Abban. Claude François Jouffroy d' Abbans married on May 10, 1783 Marie Magdeleine Pingon you Valier († August 30, 1829 ) and had her four sons:

  • Achille François Jouffroy d' Abbans Dorothée (1785-1859)
  • Ferdinand Jouffroy d' Abbans
  • Charles Jouffroy d' Abbans
  • Hippolyte Jouffroy d' Abbans

Youth

From a young age Claude Jouffroy d' Abban was interested in science, technology and mechanics and visited the mills and workshops in the area. He was taught in the Dominican monastery in Quingey and showed outstanding performance in mathematics and experimental sciences. Despite all came for his parents for him only a military career in question. He initially sided service on the side of Maria Josepha of Saxony, to prepare for the military. At age 13, he learned at the court at Versailles the foundations for military training, but his passion was still mathematics.

When he returned in 1767 to Abban -Dessus Castle richetete there a workshop and a smithy. In 1768 he joined at the urging of his father's infantry and provided as a Sous- Lieutenant Colonel Karl service under Bourbon, the future French king. However, it came to disputes between the officers and Claude Jouffroy d' Abban was exiled and imprisoned on the Îles de Lérins. From his cell he could see the naval base, and this time he developed the idea of ​​ships by means of steam engine to drive. A short time later the governor of Sainte -Marguerite set him at liberty, and he spent another two years on the island.

First steamboat

In 1773 Jouffroy d' Abbans visited the studio of the brothers Périer in Paris and studied with them the steam engine ( Pompe à feu ), who became used as a driving force for the hydraulic machine of Chaillot. In his home he met Charles François de Monnin Follenay and Claude François Joseph d' Auxiron who also dreamed of a steam-powered ships, know. They put together their idea of ​​the brothers Périer and the Marquis de Crest before, but there were differences of opinion, therefore Claude Jouffroy d' Abban founded his own company. In 1775 he took on the Bassin de Gonde at Baume- les -Dames first attempts. Since his father had no sympathy for the investigations of his son convinced Jouffroy d' Abbans ' Sister Marie Elizabeth, the abbess of her convent to support him. A coppersmith made ​​a steam engine and in 1776 the Palmipède, a 13 -meter-long steamboat in which the machine was moving flaps in the water similar to hitting the ducks with their feet to move the water away. The ship sailed on the Doubs River in June and July 1776. Jouffroy d' Abbans ' father feared, Claude François would spend the entire family fortune on his research and therefore put the second youngest brother Claude Balthazar as an heir. Claude François Jouffroy d' Abbans moved into a mill where he continued his research.

First paddle steamer

Jouffroy d' Abbans finally went to Lyon and began in 1782 with the construction of a 42 m long paddle steamer Pyroscaphe. Here he also met Marie Magdeleine Pingon you Valier, to know his future wife. On 15 July 1783, he completed his first trip on the Saône. A month later on 19 August he carried passengers to the Pyroscaphe who signed him a witness protocol for the successful journey. The steamer reached a speed of six miles per hour against the current and perverse for 16 months on the Saône. In 1784 he designed another steamer with improved steam engine, but this was only built as a model.

The Academy of Sciences ( Académie des sciences ) forbade him to use his invention in Paris, and instead commissioned Claude Périer, one of d' Abban ' adversaries whose previous attempts had failed to inspect the construction. Jouffroy d' Abbans returned to the home, because his brother was no place for him, he built a log house next to the mill, which burned down but after 3 months.

Later years

1793, during the French Revolution Claude François Jouffroy d' Abbans fled to the eastern side of the Rhine and joined Louis V. Joseph de Bourbon on. Later his eldest son followed him Ettenheim. 1801, after the peace of Luneville, he returned to France. His father and brother had died in the meantime and he was now the new Marquis and sole heir and taught in the castle a blacksmith.

In 1803, more than 20 years after Jouffroy d' Abban's first ride, Robert Fulton made ​​the first ever ride with his steamboat on the Seine, and he described himself as the inventor of the steamboat. Joseph -Philibert Desblanc from Trévoux, a watchmaker and inventor, however, made ​​clear that he had already applied for a patent on a steamboat. Claude François Jouffroy d' Abban found this patent because of his previous achievements in question, but was not heard by the authorities.

It was only on 23 April 1816, he finally got a patent. His claim was confirmed by François Arago and 1840 by the French Academy. Jouffroy d' Abban was at a wharf in Petit Bercy the steamer Charles Philip, whom he named after the future King Charles X to build. On August 20, 1816 was the maiden trip on the Seine. The hired captain had been bribed by the competition and should steer the ship against an arch of the Pont Neuf, however, Ferdinand Jouffroy d' Abbans could to frustrate. Claude François Jouffroy d' Abban was planning another steamboat to build the perseverant. This should run between Lyon and Chalon -sur -Saône, and also features a galley for the passengers, but the costs were too high.

In the American New International Encyclopedia Jouffroy published Les bateaux à vapeur ( " The steamers " ) and wrote for the Academy Mémoires sur les pompes à feu ( "Memories of the fire pump "). The transportation by steam vessels was not economical for Jouffroy d' Abban and so his last company went bankrupt in July 1819 after all and he got no further financial support. Impoverished he retired in 1831 in the Hôtel des Invalides back and died there of cholera.

1884 a monument to Jouffroy d' Abbans in Besançon was established.

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