Anselme Payen

Anselme Payen was a French chemist, physicist and mathematician. He was born in Paris in January 1795. He studied at the École Polytechnique in Paris. At the age of 20 he became manager of a borax-refining factory, where he developed a process for synthesizing borax from soda and boric acid. He also invented new processes for refining sugar, a decolorimeter, a way to refine starch and alcohol from potatoes, and a method for determination of nitrogen.

Payen became especially famous for the discovery of the first enzyme, diastase; also for his works on cellulose and paper.