Losing His Glow

Georges Claude, a Frenchman who in 1910 exhibited the first neon sign at the Grand Palais in Paris, had a career of ups and downs. At one time, his Claude Neon company was so ubiquitous that many people thought “neon” was the inventor’s last name, rather than the gas used to make gaudy creations glow. But Claude blew most of his neon-light fortune on a scheme to generate electricity by bringing cold water from the ocean depths into contact with warm surface water. And although Claude had been decorated for his World War I efforts, in World War II his royalist sentiments—and lingering resentment over what he viewed as snubs by the French government—led Claude to propagandize for voluntary cooperation with the Nazi invaders. He was arrested in August 1944, tried for treason, and sentenced to life in prison.