Louis Jacques Thénard
French chemist
May 4, 1777 - June 21, 1857

The Frenchman Thenard was born a peasant, but he eventually became a baron and professor at the Collège de France. Like so many of his time who were interested in chemistry, he studied pharmacy and was a pupil of Berthollet, Fourcroy, and Vauquelin.

He later worked with Gay-Lussac on the reduction of alkali metal oxides with iron and obtained boron by the reduction of boric oxide with potassium. He discovered hydrogen peroxide (1818). He was a widely known teacher and his Traité de Chimie Elémentaire was the standard book for many years.