Alexis Irénée du Pont

Alexis Irénée du Pont (February 14, 1816 – August 23, 1857) was an American business executive who ran the Eleutherian Mills gunpowder factory in Delaware. He was fatally injured along with five of his employees in an accidental explosion at the powder mills. He was the youngest child of Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, founder of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company.

Life and career Born in New Castle County, Delaware, Alexis Irénée du Pont attended Mount Airy College in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and the New Haven Gymnasium in Connecticut from 1829 to 1831. Classmates included his nephew, James Irénée Bidermann, the only child of his father's business partner, Jacques Antoine Bidermann, and his sister, Evelina Gabrielle du Pont. Alexis Irénée completed scientific studies at the University of Pennsylvania from 1831 to 1835, though he never received his degree.