http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleuth%C3%A8re_Ir%C3%A9n%C3%A9e_du_Pont

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (24 June 1771 – 31 October 1834), known as Irénée du Pont, or E.I. du Pont, was a French-born Huguenot chemist and industrialist who immigrated to the United States in 1799 and founded the gunpowder manufacturer, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. His descendants, the Du Pont family, were one of America's richest and most prominent families in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Early life and family:

Du Pont was born 24 June 1771, in Paris, son of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours and Nicole Charlotte Marie Louise Le Dée de Rencourt. He married Sophie Dalmas (1775–1828) in 1791 and they had eight children. In 1799, his family immigrated to the United States. He himself arrived in Rhode Island, where he landed, on 1 January 1800, along with his father and brother's family. By 1802, he had established both his business and his home, Eleutherian Mills, on the Brandywine Creek in Delaware. 1 January is the arrival anniversary of the du Pont family in America, and it is still so celebrated by the descendants.

His career in France:

Du Pont was one of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier's assistants, and it was from Lavoisier that he gained his expertise in nitrate extraction and manufacture. Like his father, he was initially a supporter of the French Revolution. However, both were among those who physically defended King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette from a mob besieging the Tuileries Palace in Paris during the insurrection of 10 August, 1792. After his father narrowly escaped the guillotine and the family house was sacked by a mob in 1797 during the events of 18 Fructidor, the entire family left for the United States in 1799. They hoped to create a model community of French émigrés.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company:

Du Pont brought an expertise in chemistry and gunpowder making during a time when the quality of American-made gunpowder was very poor.

His death and his legacy:

Du Pont died on 31 October 1834, at Eleutherian Mills, near Greenville. The company he founded would become one of the largest and most successful American corporations. His sons, Alfred V. du Pont (1798–1856) and Henry du Pont (1812–1889), were its managers in the years after his death.