Nicolas-Jacques Conté (; 4 August 1755 – 6 December 1805) was a French inventor of the modern pencil.
He was born at Saint-Céneri-près-Sées (now part of Aunou-sur-Orne) in Normandy to a family of poor farm labourers, and distinguished himself for his mechanical genius, which was of great avail to the French army in Egypt.
Aeronautics
One of his early interests while still at Sées was in the newly developing science of aeronautics. He made at least one hot-air balloon, which he flew in the public square. He contributed to the improvement of the production of hydrogen gas, as well as the treatment of the gas bag of the balloon itself.
Around 1795, he was associated with Gaspard Monge and Claude Louis Berthollet in experiments in connexion with the inflation of military balloons, was conducting the school for that department of the engineer corps at Meudon, was perfecting the methods of producing hydrogen in quantity, and in 1796 was appointed by the French Directory to the command of all the aerostatic establishments. He was at the head of the newly created Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, and occupied himself with experiments in new compositions of permanent colours, and in 1798 constructed a metal-covered barometer for measuring comparative heights, by observing the weight of mercury issuing from the tube.