File:Leo_Baekeland_ca_1906.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Leo Baekeland
Sign in to saveAlso known as Leo Henricus Arthur Baekeland, Leo Hendrick Baekeland, Leo Hendrik Baekeland, L. H. Baekeland
Belgium American inventor (1863-1944)
OverviewAI-generated
Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863–1944) was a Belgian-American chemist, engineer, photographer, and inventor. Born in Ghent, he was educated at Ghent University and later resided in Coconut Grove. His primary field of work was chemistry and technology, with his most notable work being Bakelite. He held citizenship in both Belgium and the United States.
Baekeland was a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Chemical Society. He received the John Scott Award, the Willard Gibbs Award, the Perkin Medal, and the Franklin Medal. He is recognized in the National Inventors Hall Of Fame collection.
He died of natural causes due to cerebral hemorrhage in Beacon on February 23, 1944. Baekeland was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. He spoke English and Dutch.
Synthesized by Vinony from 42 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, VIAF, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Authority record · VIAF
- Lifespan
- 1863–1944
- Nationality
- US, BE
- Role / Field
- Wynalazcy i odkrywcy, Inventor, Chemicy, Nauki przyrodnicze, Chemia
- Language
- mul, dut
- Gender
- Male
Recorded by 17 libraries
via VIAF · OCLC
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Leo
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Ghent
- Place of death
- Beacon
- Occupation
- businessperson
- Educated at
- Ghent University
- Employer
- Ghent University
- Languages spoken
- Dutch
- Native language
- Dutch
- Notable work
- Bakelite
- Field of work
- technology
- Image
- Leo Hendrik Baekeland, 1916.jpg
- Residence
- Coconut Grove
Show 9 more facts
- Commons category
- Leo Hendrik Baekeland
- date of death
- 1944-02-23
- date of birth
- 1863-11-14
- place of burial
- Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
- manner of death
- natural causes
- cause of death
- cerebral hemorrhage
- member of
- American Chemical Society
- name in native language
- Leo Henricus Arthur Baekeland
- birth name
- Leo Henricus Arthur Baekeland
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~11 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Leo Hendrik Baekeland HonFRSE (/ˈbeɪklænd/ BAYK-land, Dutch: [ˈleːjoː ˈɦɛndrɪɡ ˈbaːkəlɑnt]; November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944) was a Belgian chemist. Educated in Belgium and Germany, he spent most of his career in the United States. He is best known for the inventions of Velox photographic paper in 1893, and Bakelite in 1907. He has been called "The Father of the Plastics Industry" for his invention of Bakelite, an inexpensive, non-flammable and versatile plastic, which marked the beginning of the modern plastics industry.
Early life
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Leo Baekeland” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.