Appert, Benjamin Nicolas Marie
APPERT, BENJAMIN NICOLAS MARIE (1797-1847), French philanthropist, was born in Paris on the 10th of September 1797. While a young man he introduced a system of mutual instruction into the regimental schools of the department of the Nord. The success which it obtained induced him to publish a Manual setting forth his system. While engaged in teaching prisoners at Montaigu, he fell under the suspicion of having connived at the escape of two of them, and was thrown into the prison of La Force. On his release he resolved to devote the rest of his life to bettering the condition of those whose lot he had for a time shared, and he travelled much over Europe for the purpose of studying the various systems of prison discipline, and wrote several books on the subject. After the revolution of 1830 he became secretary to Queen Marie Amélie, and organized the measures taken for the relief of the needy. He was decorated with the Legion of Honour in 1833.
His brother, François Appert (d. 1840), was the inventor of the method of preserving food by enclosing it in hermetically sealed tins; he left a work entitled Art de conserver les substances animales et végétables.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
