Auguste Lumière Biography

Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière was a French inventor, successful businessman and a medical professional. He started his career as a manager in his father’s photographic business. Later he, along with his brother Louis Lumière, invented the cinematograph and shot the very first motion picture with it. Of course, many may argue that others had patented similar machines before them; however, it cannot be denied that they were first to invent a technology that made cinema a mass media. Their invention of Autochrome Lumière, a color photographic technique, also made a mark and earned them Elliott Cresson Medal. However, Auguste’s real interest lay in medicine and so from the beginning of the twentieth century he began to concentrate more on it. He not only did extensive research on tuberculosis and cancer, but also opened a pharmaceutical company of his own. In addition, he also found time to pen a number of books, among which most are based on his extensive medical research.