Michel Eugène Chevreul (1786 – 1889) was a prestigious French chemist, known mainly for his work on the synthesis of fatty acids (fundamental in the industrial manufacturing processes of food products such as margarine), and for his theory on colours.
Chevreul was a professor of Organic Chemistry and director of the dry cleaners at the Gobelins manufactory. Later, in 1864, he became director of the Natural History Museum in Paris. He investigated the fat bodies of animal origin and developed a theory of saponification. His research on the composition of fats was applied in the manufacture of spark plugs and soaps. He was also the discoverer of cholesterol and stearic and oleic acids.
But above all he is best known for his theories on colors which inspired the neo-impressionist painters. He won the Copley Medal in 1857.
He began studying the effects of aging on the human body shortly before his death, which occurred at the age of 102, on April 9, 1889 in Paris, with national funerals. In 1901 a statue was erected to him inside the museum where he served for so many years.
One afternoon in the 19th century, the Parish Priest of Domdam (Seine-Oise) entered his church and saw an old man praying the Rosary on his knees before an altar of the Blessed Virgin. Finished the Rosary, the old man approached the Pastor, saying:
-Perhaps you will have been surprised, Senor Cura, to see a stranger in your church at this hour. I am Michel Eugene Chevreul. The train has escaped me, walking on an excursion. And while I’m waiting for another one, I thought I couldn’t use my time better than coming to pray at the feet of the Blessed Virgin.
The priest told him that he wished all the wise men were like him in faith and Christian piety. What a beautiful spectacle to see this wise man kneeling with rosary in his hands, before the altar of Mary, thus proclaiming the brotherhood of science and faith! .
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