Person Papin; Denis (1647 - 1713); natural philosopher and inventor Papin Denis natural philosopher and inventor 1647 - 1713 French Male Chitenay, near Blois, France, Europe August 1647 16470800 Whitefryors (White Friars Street), London, England, United Kingdom, Europe August 1713 17130800 Baptism: Temple of Haut-Bourg St Jean, Blois, France, Europe (22 August 1647) Burial: St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe (26 August 1713)

Technology Education: Angers (graduated 1669) Career: Assistant to Christian Huyghens (FRS 1663) in the laboratory of the Academie Royale des Sciences; moved to London (1675); assistant to Robert Boyle (FRS 1663) (1675-1679); Assistant to Robert Hooke (FRS 1663), Curator of the Royal Society (1679); returned to Paris (1680); Curator of the Accademia Sarottiana in Venice (1681-1684); Curator of Experiments at the Royal Society (1684-1688); Professor of Mathematics at the University of Marburg (1688-1695); moved to Kassel, where he first worked at the University of Marburg, then assisted the Landgrave of Hesse with his experiments (1695-1707); returned to London (1707); died of 'consumption' or tuberculosis at Whitefriars Street, London (1713) Parents: Denis Papin and Madeleine [Magdaleine] Pineau As Huyghens' assistant, Papin helped with air pump experiments and lived at his aparments in Paris. Through him, Papin was introduced to Henry Oldenburg (FRS 1663), secretary of the Royal Society, and other Fellows such as Boyle (FRS 1663) and Brouncker (FRS 1663). Under his various appointments with Fellows , he produced some publications, such as the 'Nouvelles experiences du vuide' (1674) and 'Continuation of New Experiments' (1680). Although he had started as a medical doctor and then given up that profession in the pursuit of science, he maintained his interest and wrote a treatise in 1681 on painless operations. He is most well-remembered as an inventor and his work with the steam engine, a submarine, and the development of a first paddle boat. Papin was also a close correspondent with Gottfried Leibniz (FRS 1673) and was involved in a scientific controversy with him starting with a discussion of the motion of free falling bodies in 1681. Curator of the Royal Society (1679); Curator of Experiments (1684-88) Fellow 31/12/1680 57 Co-authored papers on air-pump experiments with Christiaan Hugyhens (1675) Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; ODNB; MacTutor History of Mathematics archive London Metropolitan Archives Register of Burial - LMA reference for the Register containing the relevant entry is P69/BRI/A/01/Ms6540/3 Memorial established to Papin in Chitenay 2013 showing his 'Digestteur' References: Home, R W. 2002. 'The Royal Society and the Empire: the colonial and Commonwealth Fellowship. Part 1. 1731-1847', vol. 56, pp. 307-332 McKie, D. 1956-57. 'Priestley's Laboratory and Library and Other of his Effects', in Notes and Records, vol. 12, pp. 114-136 Robinson, H W. 1947. 'Denis Papin (1647-1712)', in Notes and Records, vol. 5, pp. 47-50 Authority: Burial information from Register of Marriages & Burrials (sic) from 1695 to August 1714, London Metropolitan Archive, P69/BRI/A/01/Ms6540/3 Place and cause of death from Draft Burial Register, St Bride's Collection, London, Metropolitan Archive, P69/BRI/A/014/MS06550 Notes: Precise date of election not known - R has some time in 1682; DSB and Hunter, have late in 1680. Some sources have c.1712 as date of death. Payment made to him on 24 Mar 1712 (although Hunter says he was never in accounts). DNB says he was still alive 23 January 1712 (letter to Sloane at RS). Some sources have 22 August as date of birth, ODNB has it as baptism. Information from Library user Mr M Clarke; ... the programme of scanning and digitising parish records throughout the UK, which is currently being undertaken by 'Ancestry.com', continues unabated, and by the time my article was published, in April this year, they had apparently covered the period in London when Denis was presumed to have passed away - circa 1713. One of the magazine's readers got in touch shortly after he'd read my article, to say that he, being a subscriber to 'Ancestry.com', had just done an internet search, and promptly found a burial record for a "Denys Papin" in St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, dated 26 August 1713. Well, you could have knocked me down with a 'digesteur'! A bit of further research traced the actual record to the London Metropolitan Archives, and a Register of Marriages & Burrials (sic) from 1695 to August 1714. I subsequently made an appointment to visit the Archives, hoping to view the Register for myself, and I'm pleased to say they were kind enough to let me see the book first-hand. I am awaiting a verified copy of the actual Registry entry, but they allowed me to take pictures of the book and the relevant page (for personal research purposes only...) but I've attached copies of both, which you might well like to keep on file. Assuming it to be the same 'Denis Papin', then the date and location of his burial have finally come to light - one can further assume that he died a day or two beforehand, but we will probably never know the exact date for certain. I have since been in touch with St Bride's Church, who were delighted to here that they had such a luminary in their graveyard - sadly the actual part of the 'Lower Ground' cemetery where he was laid to rest has long since been built over - but there is now a proposal (albeit at a very early stage) to erect some sort of memorial to Denis in the Church itself. Should that plan ever come to fruition, I'll let you know. Trusting the above information is of value, and to quote from Denis' last letter in your files, when he wrote to your Secretary in January 1712... "I am, with much respect, most honoured Sir, your most humble and obedient servant" With my Kind Regards for now Martin Clarke. International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribRaw=Papin%2C+Denis RCN: 57935 RCN: 57933 RCN: 57931 RCN: 57926 RCN: 57932 RCN: 57928 RCN: 57936 RCN: R70294 RCN: 57934 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/results?mi_search_type=adv&mi_adv_search=yes&adv_person_id=AUTH6456 22 Aug 1647 - August 1713 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 17/10/2022 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA5721 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 17/02/2026 RS_NET\VidaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/100307263 06f83925-6d1e-42d8-80a8-e4fb7b7d5d38