Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787 - 1851) was the Basque artist and chemist who is recognized for his invention of the Daguerreotype process of photography.
He experimented on making pictures from 1824, showing dioramas around France, England and Scotland. A few years after Nicéphore Niepce produced the world's first photography, the two men started a 4 years cooperation - until Niepce's death in 1833.
Daguerre announced the latest perfection of the Daguerreotype, after years of experimentation, in 1839, with the French Academy of Sciences announcing the process on January 9 of that year. Daguerre's patent was acquired by the French Government, and on August 19, 1839 the French Government announced the invention was a gift "Free to the World."
However, Daguerre himself deposed the patent for England on August 12, and this greatly slowed the development of photography in Great Britain.
Named after Daguerre
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