Background
Denayrouze was born on October 1, 1837, at Montpeyroux, Aveyron, France, on the Aubrac plateau.
Denayrouze was born on October 1, 1837, at Montpeyroux, Aveyron, France, on the Aubrac plateau.
École Navale.
In 1852, at the age of fifteen, he was admitted to the Naval School. He was promoted to lieutenant de vaisseau in 1862, and embarked on an expedition to Cochinchina (present-day Vietnam). He contracted a serious illness which rendered him unfit for service at sea.
While recovering in the commune of Espalion, Denayrouze met Benoît Rouquayrol, with whom he took part in several inventions.
Since 1860, Rouquayrol had disclosed three patents for machines designed for mining emergencies, intended to furnish miners with air in case of firedamp or flooding of the mine. Denayrouze investigated the possibility of adapting the pressure regulator and developing it for underwater use.
The two men thus designed and patented their "Rouquayrol-Denayrouze diving suit" in 1864. This would be the first diving suit that could supply air to the diver on demand.
In the same year, the Imperial French Navy created a similar device.
In February of 1865, August Denayrouze created the "Rouquayrol-Denayrouze Society" to commercialize their inventions for sale to both the Navy and to private enterprises. The same year, he created the "French Society for Fish and Sponges Of The Eastern Mediterranean," based in Izmir, Turkey. Jules Verne, who attended the exposition, discovered the invention with enthusiasm and chose it as the equipment for his fictional Captain Nemo and the crew of the Nautilus in the 1869 novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
Verne gave homage to the inventors by calling out the inventors by name.
Denayoruze died on 1 january 1883, aged 45, of illness.
