Nicephore Niepce (1765-1833) was a French inventor and a pioneer in the field of photography. Niepce served as a staff officer in the French army under Napoleon. Niepce took what is believed to be the world's first photogravure etching, in 1822, of an engraving of Pope Pius VII, but the original was later destroyed when he attempted to duplicate it. He also experimented with silver chloride, which darkens when exposed to light, but eventually looked to bitumen, which he used in his first successful attempt at capturing nature photographically. In 1829 he began collaborating on improved photographic processes with Louis Daguerre, and together they developed the physautotype, a process that used lavender oil. Among Niepce's other inventions was the Pyreolophore, the world's first 'internal combustion engine', which he conceived, created, and developed with his older brother Claude who had descended into delirium and squandered much of the family fortune chasing inappropriate business opportunities for the Pyreolophore. Nicephore died in 1833 at the age of 68.
