Edmond Frémy, chemist who obtained rubies artificially, among many other things

February 28, 1814, in Versailles (France) – February 3, 1894, in Paris (France)

Chemist who in 1831 was part of the laboratory of Louis Joseph Gay-Lussac and, after going through several positions, succeeded Gay-Lussac himself, in 1850, in the Chemistry headquarters of the Museum of Natural History.

His research focused on:

• Study osmic acid, ferrates, stannates, plumbates, and ozone.
• He attempted to isolate fluorine by electrolysis of fused fluorides, and discovered anhydrous hydrofluoric acid.
• Study the colors of leaves and flowers.
• Study the composition of bone, brain matter, and other animal substances.
• Study the fermentation processes.
• Contributions to industrial chemistry such as his contribution to the knowledge of the manufacture of iron and steel, sulfuric acid, glass and paper, and in particular the saponification of fats with sulfuric acid and in the use of palmitic acid to make candles.

In 1845, he discovered the salt that bears his name. It is a long-lived free radical that is used as a standard in electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.

At the end of his life, he dedicated himself to the problem of obtaining alumina in crystalline form and managed to make rubies identical to the natural gem, not only in chemical composition, but also in physical properties.

During his professional career, he wrote a large number of monographs in the "Annales de Chimie", several well-known works such as Le Guide du Chimiste, La Ramie, Chimie Elementaire, etc., published, between 1882-1894, in 43 volumes, a chemical encyclopedia and contributed to many other publications with other scientists.