Printed: 2024-04-26
Breyer, Albert (Albrecht)
Identity
Category
Person (Male)
Alternative name or descriptor
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Status
- Amateur
Details
Life dates
Berlin [Prussia], 1812 - Brussels, 1876
Activity
1839 * Liège
Frédéric Martin Albert, ° 16.10.1812; + 9.8.1876. A medical student in Liège since 1837 after fleeing Germany for his revolutionary activities, in the spring of 1839 Breyer invented the eponymous Breyerotype (reflectography) - ancestor of the photocopy - which enabled direct positive copies to be obtained on paper of engravings, drawings and written documents. Samples were twice filed at the "Académie royale des Sciences de Belgique", on 4.8.1839 and 9.11.1839. They were copies of engravings: the town halls of Louvain and Mons, and some plants. Apparently, Breyer did not continue his photographic experiments after 1839. In 1841, he was an ophthalmologist established in Brussels, Rue de la Régence, 16. Throughout his life, Breyer was active in radical left-wing circles and was an intimate of Karl Marx during the latter's stay in Brussels from 1845 to 1848. Founder member of the "Société royale belge d'entomologie" in 1855. Artist and radical Gustave Courbet painted Breyer's wife, Fanny Breyer - Van Bruyssel, in oils in 1858.
Frédéric Martin Albert, ° 16.10.1812; + 9.8.1876. A medical student in Liège since 1837 after fleeing Germany for his revolutionary activities, in the spring of 1839 Breyer invented the eponymous Breyerotype (reflectography) - ancestor of the photocopy - which enabled direct positive copies to be obtained on paper of engravings, drawings and written documents. Samples were twice filed at the "Académie royale des Sciences de Belgique", on 4.8.1839 and 9.11.1839. They were copies of engravings: the town halls of Louvain and Mons, and some plants. Apparently, Breyer did not continue his photographic experiments after 1839. In 1841, he was an ophthalmologist established in Brussels, Rue de la Régence, 16. Throughout his life, Breyer was active in radical left-wing circles and was an intimate of Karl Marx during the latter's stay in Brussels from 1845 to 1848. Founder member of the "Société royale belge d'entomologie" in 1855. Artist and radical Gustave Courbet painted Breyer's wife, Fanny Breyer - Van Bruyssel, in oils in 1858.
Locations
1839 * Liège
Exhibitions
Genres / subject matter
Techniques
Bibliography/Webography
STENGER, Erich. "Das Breyerotyp", Die Photographische Industrie, vol. 23, 1925, pp. 1269-1272; "Das Breyerotyp (II. Mitteilung)", Die Photographische Industrie, vol. 24, 1926, pp. 155-156.
ROOSENS, Laurent. "Albrecht Breyer, de eerste reflectografie en haar verdere ontwikkeling", Photohistorisch Tijdschrift, vol. 12, 1989, pp. 87-89.
MARECHAL, Dominique. "Gustave Courbet in Brussels: two of his female sitters and their radical social and political circles", The Burlington Magazine, vol. 163, May 2021, pp. 444-446.
SARTORIUS, Francis. "Breyer, Friedrich Albert Martin", Nouvelle Biographie Nationale, vol. 16, Brussels, 2023, pp. 34-36.
ROOSENS, Laurent. "Albrecht Breyer, de eerste reflectografie en haar verdere ontwikkeling", Photohistorisch Tijdschrift, vol. 12, 1989, pp. 87-89.
MARECHAL, Dominique. "Gustave Courbet in Brussels: two of his female sitters and their radical social and political circles", The Burlington Magazine, vol. 163, May 2021, pp. 444-446.
SARTORIUS, Francis. "Breyer, Friedrich Albert Martin", Nouvelle Biographie Nationale, vol. 16, Brussels, 2023, pp. 34-36.
Context
Affiliations
Management
Record source
DIRECTORY_1997#460
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation/revision
SFJ revised 28.6.2017; SFJ revised 28.7.2021 based on information supplied by Ingrid Leonard; SFJ revised 23.1.2024 based on information supplied by M. Demaeght