English chemist and inventor of mauveine, the first aniline dye.

Perkin studied at the Royal College of Chemistry. He was a brilliant student. In 1856, he attempted to synthesise quinine, a cure for malaria, from the by-products of coal tar. He failed in this particular endeavour but instead accidentally discovered the synthetic dye aniline purple, better known as mauveine.

Although only 18, Perkin realised the commercial potential of his innovation. In 1857 he obtained a patent and went into business, setting up a factory at Greenford in west London. Mauve became an extremely fashionable colour for clothing and Perkin enjoyed huge commercial success.

Over the next few years he developed and marketed a number of other synthetic dyes including 'Britannia Violet' and 'Perkin's Green'. In 1869 he discovered a method to produce alizarin, a red dye, but by this time his business was becoming eclipsed by the powerful German chemical company BASF.

In 1874 Perkin sold his factory and retired from business. However he continued to conduct research into chemistry and produced, amongst other substances, coumarin, one of the first synthetic perfumes.