Louis Figuier (15 February 1819 – 8 November 1894) was a French scientist and writer.
He was the nephew of Pierre-Oscar Figuier and became Professor of chemistry at L'Ecole de
pharmacie of Montpellier.
Though his works are highly respected, it is often unmentioned that he was in fact a staunch racist of the time (see The Human Race).
Figuier played a key role in perpetuating the blatantly myopic misconception that people of black origin were mentally inferior, were not fully human, smelled poorly, and were promiscuous.
His citing of these ill-formed concepts of course were and are not true yet he remains celebrated in his achievements.