Georges Claude

Georges Claude (born 24 September 1870; † May 23, 1960 ) was a French physicist and businessman and is considered the inventor of the neon tube. On January 19, 1915 him a patent by the U.S. Patent Office has been granted.

Life and work

The father of Georges Claude, even teachers and unsuccessful inventor, forbade him to attend a school. Without a high school graduation, he studied at the Paris School of Physics and Chemistry. Later, he was even a member of the Academy of Sciences.

The neon lamp was created as a waste product in its attempts to isolate pure oxygen from the air. His large fortune acquired Georges Claude with Air Liquide, which he founded in 1902 company for liquefied gases.

As a staunch nationalist, he undertook after the occupation of France by the Hitler regime first tried to commit suicide. His equally strong contempt for democracy led him later to the right-wing Action Française, which approved the occupation of France by Hitler. In 1945, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. After four years, the French State Court pardoned him because of mental confusion.