1-158-568 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Henri Etienne St Claire Deville, 19th century French chemist, (c1955). In 1854 Deville (1818-1881) discovered the process for obtaining pure aluminium by reducing aluminium chloride with sodium. With the financial backing of Napoleon III, he built an experimental plant for large-scale production of aluminium and was able to display the pure metal at the Paris Exposition of 1855. Obverse of a medal commemorating 100 years of the use of aluminium.