Biography of Louis Lumière
                     Biography of Louis 
Lumière
Introduction
Auguste and Louis Lumière , two of the most 
profound pioneers in the cinema world, are 
considered the earliest filmmakers in history as 
they created the cinematographer with which 
the brothers made the first motion picture. 
Source: iphf.org
Childhood 
Louis Jean Lumière was born on October 5, 
1864, in Besancon, France, to Claude-Antoine 
Lumière and Jeanne Josephine Costilla Lumière. 
He had three siblings—a sister named Jeanne 
and two brothers, Édouard and Auguste. His 
father was a painter turned photographer.
Source: www.thefamouspeople.com
Early Life
Louis became interested in photography at an 
early age, a fascination he shared with his elder 
brother Auguste. 
He was blessed with creativity, confidence and 
a love for science and performed well at La 
Mariniere technical high school.
Source: www.thefamouspeople.com
Career
After graduating from high school, Louis Lumière 
joined his brother and father to work in the 
photographic firm his father ran. 
This collaboration proved to be very fruitful and the 
father and sons successfully developed a new, 
cutting edge, "dry" photographic plate, dubbed the 
"blue label" plate.
Source: www.thefamouspeople.com
Invention
The invention was a commercial success as 
well and over the next several years the family 
accumulated a vast fortune manufacturing the 
plate. The money earned helped the brothers in 
funding further experimentation. Now they 
shifted their focus to color photography.
Source: www.thefamouspeople.com
L'Eden
They publicly screened the film at L'Eden, the 
world's first and oldest cinema in southeastern 
France in September 1895. A few months later 
in December, they showed their film at the 
Grand Café on the boulevard des Capucines in 
Paris which earned them wide public acclaim. 
This marked the beginning of cinema history.
Source: www.thefamouspeople.com
Short films
Over the next few years Louis Lumière made 
many short films, recording everyday French 
life—The arrival of a train, a toiling blacksmith, 
soldiers marching, a game of cards, and other 
ordinary day-to-day activities. Along with 
Auguste he also made some comedy shorts.
Source: www.thefamouspeople.com
First newsreel
Louis and Auguste Lumière are also credited 
with making the first newsreel, a film of the 
French Photographic Society Conference, and 
the first documentaries, four films about the 
Lyon fire department.
Source: www.thefamouspeople.com
Colour 
Photography
The brothers were also pioneers in the field of color 
photography. 
They patented a color photographic process, the 
"Autochrome Lumière" in 1903 which was launched 
in the market in 1907. The Lumière company was a 
major producer of photographic products in Europe 
for much of the 20th century.
Source: www.thefamouspeople.com
Awards & 
Achievements
Auguste and Louis Lumière were awarded the 
Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, the highest award 
given by the Franklin Institute, in 1909 for their 
work in color photography.
Source: www.thefamouspeople.com