Denis Papin (1647-1714) was a French physicist who specialized in thermodynamics, and is considered the 'father' of the steam and piston engine. When Louis XIV began to persecute the Protestants in 1685, Papin left France and began a wandering life across Europe. When in Germany, he invented the pressure cooker (a sealed pot with a safety valve) and in 1687, he built his famous steam engine. He constructed a steam boat, but the boatmen, fearing unemployment, broke his machine. He dead in London in 1714. The "Syndicat Général des Industries Mécaniques et Transformatrices des Métaux" quite appropriately chose Papin as their 'mentor', considering that mechanical engineering would not exist without the engine. This Trade Union was founded in 1839, at a time when the Industrial Revolution was seriously taking hold - in France and throughout Europe. Right from the start it had two primary goals - worker safety and apprentice training. Long before there were laws to protect workers, this trade union (and others) took it upon themselves to supervise the workplace and ensure that new workers were properly trained before they were allowed on the shop floor. This Trade Union existed throughout the 1950s, but has since been replaced by other Unions with similar goals.