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CHEMIST

Leo Baekeland

1863 - 1944

Photo of Leo Baekeland

Icon of person Leo Baekeland

Leo Hendrik Baekeland (November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944) was a Belgian chemist. Educated in Belgium and Germany, he spent most of his career in the United States. He is best known for the inventions of Velox photographic paper in 1893, and Bakelite in 1907. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Leo Baekeland has received more than 716,164 page views. His biography is available in 49 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 45 in 2019). Leo Baekeland is the 219th most popular chemist (down from 154th in 2019), the 155th most popular biography from Belgium (down from 133rd in 2019) and the 4th most popular Belgian Chemist.

Leo Baekeland is most famous for inventing the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite.

Memorability Metrics

  • 720k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 59.59

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 49

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.29

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.48

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Leo Baekelands by language


Among CHEMISTS

Among chemists, Leo Baekeland ranks 219 out of 509Before him are Derek Barton, Aziz Sancar, Elias James Corey, Osamu Shimomura, Kaoru Ishikawa, and Jacques Dubochet. After him are Michael Smith, Arieh Warshel, John Pople, Alfred G. Gilman, Herbert C. Brown, and Franz Karl Achard.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1863, Leo Baekeland ranks 32Before him are Reinhard Scheer, George Santayana, Max Wolf, Heinrich Rickert, William Randolph Hearst, and Albert Calmette. After him are Essad Pasha Toptani, Franz von Hipper, Archduke Eugen of Austria, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, Charles Spearman, and John Charles Fields. Among people deceased in 1944, Leo Baekeland ranks 66Before him are Princess Mafalda of Savoy, Vera Menchik, Jean Giraudoux, Christian Wirth, Infanta Maria Theresa of Portugal, and Günther Korten. After him are Harold Lowe, Cécile Chaminade, Jakob von Uexküll, Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg, James McKeen Cattell, and Erich Fellgiebel.

Others Born in 1863

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Others Deceased in 1944

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In Belgium

Among people born in Belgium, Leo Baekeland ranks 155 out of 1,019Before him are Eric Walter Elst (1936), Bartholomeus Spranger (1546), Jacques Arcadelt (1507), The Singing Nun (1933), Jacob Le Maire (1585), and Elio Di Rupo (1951). After him are Charles Michel (1975), John I, Duke of Brabant (1252), Bavo of Ghent (589), Blanche of Namur (1320), Princess Louise of Belgium (1858), and André Franquin (1924).

Among CHEMISTS In Belgium

Among chemists born in Belgium, Leo Baekeland ranks 4Before him are Jan Baptist van Helmont (1580), Ernest Solvay (1838), and Yves Chauvin (1930). After him are George Sarton (1884), Jean Stas (1813), and Gilbert Stork (1921).