Chevreul, Michel Eugène

Chevreul, Michel Eugène (mēshĕl` özhĕn` shəvröl`), 1786–1889, French chemist. He studied under L. N. Vauquelin, was director of the Gobelin tapestry works, and from 1830 was professor, and from 1860 to 1879 director, at the natural history museum at Paris. Noted for his researches in the composition of animal fats (by which he contributed to the development of the soap and candle industry), he discovered and named olein and stearin and wrote Recherches sur les corps gras d'origine animale (1823). He also worked and wrote on color contrasts; the results of his studies influenced the painters Seurat and Signac.