August Denayrouze (1 October 1837 – 1 January 1883) was a French engineer and inventor. He was the inventor of a demand valve for control of breathing air supply, and one of the inventors of a

diving suit A diving suit is a garment or device designed to protect a diver from the underwater environment. A diving suit may also incorporate a breathing gas supply (such as for a standard diving dress or atmospheric diving suit), but in most cases th ...

, along with

Benoît Rouquayrol Benoît Rouquayrol (1826–1875) was a French inventor. Along with Auguste Denayrouze, Rouquayrol invented a diving suit and breathing apparatus. Biography Benoît Rouquayrol was born on 13 June 1826 in Espalion, in the Aveyron department ...

Biography

Denayrouze was born on 1 October 1837 in Montpeyroux,

Aveyron Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...

, France. In 1852, at the age of fifteen, he was admitted to the Naval School. He was promoted to

lieutenant de vaisseau Ship-of-the-line lieutenant (; ) is a naval officer rank, used in a number of countries. The name derives from the name of the largest class of warship, the ship of the line, as opposed to smaller types of warship ( corvettes and frigates). It ...

in 1862, and embarked on an expedition to

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...

(present-day Vietnam). He contracted a serious illness which rendered him unfit for service at sea. While recovering in the commune of

Espalion Espalion (; ) is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. Population Sights * Château de Calmont d'Olt *The Pont-Vieux (Old Bridge) is part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. *Ch ...

, Denayrouze met

, with whom he collaborated in several inventions. Since 1860, Rouquayrol took out three patents for equipment intended for mining emergencies, to supply miners with air in case of

firedamp Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and, when they are penetrated, the ...

or flooding of the mine. Denayrouze investigated the possibility of adapting the

pressure regulator A pressure regulator is a valve that controls the pressure of a fluid to a desired value, using negative feedback from the controlled pressure. Regulators are used for gases and liquids, and can be an integral device with a pressure setting, a r ...

and developing it for underwater use. The two men thus designed and patented their "Rouquayrol-Denayrouze

" in 1864. This was the first diving suit that could supply air to the diver on demand. In the same year, the Imperial

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

created a similar device. In February 1865, August Denayrouze created the "Rouquayrol-Denayrouze Society" to commercialize their inventions for sale to both the Navy and to private enterprises. The same year, he created the "French Society for Fish and Sponges Of The Eastern Mediterranean," based in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Turkey. Two years later, the Rouquayrol-Denayrouze diving apparatus was presented at the 1867

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

and won the gold medal.

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

, who attended the exposition, discovered the invention with enthusiasm and chose it as the equipment for his fictional

Captain Nemo Captain Nemo (; also known as Prince Dakkar) is a character created by the French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). Nemo appears in two of Verne's science-fiction books, ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (1870) and '' The Mysterious Is ...

and the crew of the ''

Nautilus A nautilus (; ) is any of the various species within the cephalopod family Nautilidae. This is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and the suborder Nautilina. It comprises nine living species in two genera, the type genus, ty ...

'' in the 1870 novel ''

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' () is a science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may inclu ...

''. Verne paid homage to the inventors by mentioning them by name. In 1869, Denayrouze passed governance of the Society for Fish and Sponges to his brother,

Louis Denayrouze Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

, so that he could advance the commercial interests of the diving apparatus in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1874, August Denayrouze dissolved both societies and created a single "Reunited Society for Mechanical Specialities," with his brother Louis as its director. Denayrouze died on 1 January 1883, aged 45, of illness.

References

External links

* (Diving Suit Museum), Escalion, France {{DEFAULTSORT:Denayrouze, August 1837 births 1883 deaths 19th-century French inventors People from Aveyron