Auguste Houzeau

Auguste Houzeau (1829 to 1911) was a French agronomist and chemist, born in Elbeuf. He studied at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers in Paris, where he took chemistry classes from Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, and later became a professor at the École préparatoire à l'enseignement supérieur des sciences et des lettres in Rouen. In 1883 he was appointed director of the Station agronomique de la Seine-Inférieure, and he was also president of the Société centrale d'agriculture de la Seine-Maritime. He is remembered for investigations into the nature of ozone and its diffusion into the atmosphere, for studies of fertilizers and for research on apple pomace, and in 1874 he published an instruction on using an azotimeter to assay nitrogen fertilizers. He received the Prix Jecker in 1877 for his ozone work and was promoted officer of the Légion d'honneur in 1895.