Guillaume-François Rouelle

Who was Guillaume-François Rouelle?

Guillaume François Rouelle was a French chemist and apothecary. In 1754 he introduced the concept of a base into chemistry, as a substance which reacts with an acid to give it solid form.

He is known as l'Aîné to distinguish him from his younger brother, Hilaire Rouelle, who was also a chemist and known as the discoverer of urea.

He started a public course in his laboratory in 1738 where he taught many students among whom were Denis Diderot, Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, Joseph Proust and Antoine-Augustin Parmentier.

He was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1749.