Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay (; 16 April 1838 – 26 May 1922) was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.

Biography

Born in Rebecq, he was prevented by his acute pleurisy from going to university. He worked in his uncle's chemical factory from the age of 21.

In 1861, he, along with his brother Alfred Solvay, developed the ammonia-soda process (also known as the Solvay process) for the manufacturing of soda ash (anhydrous sodium carbonate) from brine (as a source of sodium chloride) and limestone (as a source of calcium carbonate). The process was an improvement over the earlier Leblanc process. Through his friendship with François Hoebeke, founder and owner of the bottling company Top Bronnen of Nederbrakel, later became the first company to develop and produce carbonated non-alcoholic drinks in Belgium.

He founded the company Solvay & Cie and established his first factory at Couillet (now merged into Charleroi, Belgium) in 1863, and further perfected the process until 1872, when he patented it. Soon, Solvay process plants were established in the United Kingdom, the United States, Ukraine, Russia, Germany and Austria. Today, about 70 Solvay process plants are still operational worldwide.

  • 60px Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold, by Royal Decree. 21 November 1918
  • 60px Grand Cordon in the Legion of Honour France, 7 November 1919

See also

  • Solvay Institute of Sociology
  • Emile Waxweiler
  • Solvay Hut

Literature

  • Bertrand, Louis, Ernest Solvay. Een hervormer op maatschappelijk gebied, Brussels, Agence Dechenne, 1918, 113 p.
  • Boianovsky, Mauro, Erreygers, Guido, Social comptabilism and pure credit systems. Solvay and Wicksell on monetary reform, in : Fontaine, Philippe, Leonard, Robert, (ed.), The experiment in the history of economics, London, Routledge, 2005, pp. 98–134.
  • Despy-Meyer, Andrée, Devriese Didier (ed.), Ernest Solvay et son temps, Brussels, Archives de l'ULB, 1997, 349 p.
  • Erreygers, Guido, The economic theories and social reform proposals of Ernest Solvay (1838–1922), in : Samuels, Warren J. (red.), European economists of the early 20th century, volume 1. Studies of neglected thinkers of Belgium, France, The Netherlands and Scandinavia, Cheltenham-Northampton, Edward Elgar, 1998, pp. 221–262.
  • Rapaille, Maxime, Solvay, un géant. Des rives de la Sambre aux confins de la terre, Bruxelles, Didier Hatier, 1989, 187 p.
  • Author not stated. "Vie D'Ernest Solvay" Bruxelles, Chez le Libraire Lamertin, 1929, 164 pp. Ten heliogravures (two in color) Soft cover. Notation at front reads "Les principaux travaux d'Ernest Solvay, sur des questions scientifiques, politiques et sociales, paraitront en deux volumes, de meme format que celui-ci, chez Lamertin, fin 1929, sous le titre : Notes, Lettres et Discours d'Ernest Solvay."

References

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