Gabriel Lippmann

Gabriel Jonas Lippmann (August 16 1845 – July 13 1921) was a Franco-Luxembourgian physicist and inventor, and Nobel laureate in physics for his method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference, later known as the Lippmann plate.

He was born to Franco-Jewish parents in Hollerich, Luxemburg. When Gabriel was three, his family moved back to France, to live in Paris, where he was homeschooled.

He is remembered for the innovations that resulted from his search for a direct color-sensitive medium in photography. He was one of the founders of the Institut d'optique théorique et appliquée in France. He also invented an electrometer that was used in the first ECG machine.

Lippmann was a member of the Academy of Sciences from 8 February 1886 until his death, including serving as its President in 1912. In addition, he was a Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London, a member of the Bureau des Longitudes, and a member of the Grand Ducal Institute.

Lippmann married the daughter of novellist Victor Cherbuliez in 1888. He died on 13 July 1921 aboard the steamer France while enroute from Canada.