Joseph Nic矇phore Ni矇pce (March 7, 1765 - July 5, 1833) was a French inventor, credited as the inventor of photography. In 1822 Ni矇pce took what is believed to be the world's first photogravure etching, an engraving of Pope Pius VII, but the original was later destroyed when he attempted to duplicate it. In 1825 he developed heliography, a technique he used to create the world's oldest surviving product of a photographic process: a print made from a photoengraved printing plate. In 1826-27, he used a primitive camera to produce the oldest surviving photograph of a real-world scene. In 1829 he began collaborating on improved photographic processes with Louis Daguerre, and together they developed the physautotype, a process that used lavender oil. Among his other inventions was the Pyr矇olophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, which he conceived, created, and developed with his older brother Claude. Nic矇phore squandered much of the family fortune chasing inappropriate business opportunities for the Pyr矇olophore. He died in 1833 at the age of 68.