Auguste-Donat De Hemptinne

Auguste De Hemptinne (August 15, 1781 – January 5, 1854) was a Belgian pharmacist and industrialist.

Biography Early life and education Auguste-Donat De Hemptinne was born in Orp-Jauche, Brabant, Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) on August 15, 1781. Son of Jean Lambert De Hemptinne and Jeanne Françoise Drouin, his father acted as a notary and chief mayor of the barony of Jauche and seven neighboring communes during the time of Joseph II, the French Revolution, and the First French Empire.

Career As of 1806, De Hemptinne held the position of pharmacist. After his practical training as a pharmacist in Paris under Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, he opened his pharmacy in Brussels.

Starting in 1809 and continuing until 1852, he was often the subject of portraits by his brother-in-law and Belgian painter François-Joseph Navez.

De Hemptinne took an active part in the development of the branches of industry in Belgium. He helped introduce the production of neatsfoot oil in 1814.

De Hemptinne, Poelman-Hamelinck, and Frédéric Basse introduced the guilloché lathe for printing rollers in 1826. De Hemptinne and Frédéric Basse also imported a wheel engraving system from England in 1827, comprising machinery for raising, dividing, and applying the wheel to the roller. That same year, De Hemptinne patented a machine for simultaneously beating and rinsing cotton canvas, but its need for frequent repairs led to its abandonment. He was appointed to the steering committee of the 1830 Exposition des produits de l'industrie belge in the wake of the Belgian Revolution. He sent both factory products and his inventions for display. He also served on the steering committees for the 1835, 1841, and 1847 Exhibitions in Brussels. In 1841, he participated in the organizing committee of the Exposition des produits de l'industrie belge.

He was one of the first members of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium established by King Leopold I of Belgium in 1841.

De Hemptinne was the lead author of the first pharmacopoeia of the independent Belgian kingdom, Pharmacopoea Belgica Nova (1854).

Family De Hemptinne married Marie Antoinette de Lathuy on July 2, 1812. This marriage produced three children—two sons and a daughter. Auguste-Ferdinand de Hemptinne, the eldest child born in 1819, eventually took over the chemical products factory in Molenbeek. He was the brother-in-law of Belgian painter François-Joseph Navez.