Paul Emile Chappuis was a photographer, an inventor and manufacturer of daylight

Daylight

Daylight or the light of day is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight outdoors during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and both of these reflected from the Earth and terrestrial objects. Sunlight scattered or reflected from objects in outer space is...

 reflector

Light tube

Light tubes or light pipes are used for transporting or distributing natural or artificial light. In their application to daylighting, they are also often called sun pipes, sun scopes, solar light pipes, sky lights or daylight pipes.Generally speaking, a light pipe or light tube may refer to:* a...

s .

Born in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 1816, Chappuis moved to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 where he ran a photographic studio at 69 Fleet Street

Fleet Street

Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...

 between 1859 and 1871.
He also patented different types of light reflector

Reflection (physics)

Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two differentmedia so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples include the reflection of light, sound and water waves...

 that would allow natural light into buildings that would otherwise require gaslight

Gaslight

Gaslight may refer to:* Gas lighting, the use of flammable gas such as natural gas as a light source* Gaslighting, a form of psychological abuse* Gas Light a Patrick Hamilton stage play...

s during daytime.
He set up a company to manufacture reflectors in 1856 on the basis of his 1853 and 1855 patents for different types of reflector: myriastratic or diamond-shaped, silver fluted glass, argento-crystal, and luminarium reflector.
He was declared bankrupt in 1859, and briefly imprisoned for debt.
However his business recovered, and was reformed as a limited company in 1868.

He died at Brixton

Brixton

Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

 on 20 May 1887 and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery

West Norwood Cemetery

West Norwood Cemetery is a cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery.One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London, and is a site of major historical, architectural and...

.

Chappuis' firm continued manufacturing reflectors in London until the factory was destroyed by bombing in 1943.

External links

• Chappuis' biography at Museum of London
• Science & Society Picture Library Advertisement for Chappuis’ patent reflectors, c 1851-1870.