William Henry Perkin

Sir William Henry Perkin was an English chemist and entrepreneur, born in the East End of London in 1838, best known for his serendipitous discovery of mauveine, the first commercial synthetic organic dye, made from aniline. He entered the Royal College of Chemistry at fifteen and became an assistant to August Wilhelm von Hofmann. While trying to synthesise quinine for the treatment of malaria during the Easter vacation of 1856, working in a makeshift laboratory at his home on Cable Street, he made his accidental discovery at the age of eighteen. He then set up a factory to produce the dye industrially, laying the foundation for the synthetic organic chemicals industry. He died in 1907.