Emperor Napoleon III intervened to prevent the bankruptcy of which musician and inventor?

Emperor Napoleon III (1808 -1878) intervened to prevent the bankruptcy of Antoine-Joseph Sax (1814-1894).

Sax, usually known as Adolphe, was born in Belgium to a family that made musical instruments and began learning the clarinet and flute as a child. He not only become a talented musician but developed a new 24 valve system for the bass clarinet which was launched at the 1835 Industrial Exposition in Brussels when he was 21. This marked the beginning of his career as a musical inventor.

Within 5 years, by the age of 26, he had developed 9 more musical inventions, including an organ, a piano-tuning process, and a sound reflection screen. His greatest triumph came in 1841 when he invented the saxophone. The composers Fromental Halevy and Hector Berlioz both championed the new instrument and Sax developed a full range of 7 saxophones, ranging from sopranino to double-bass.

Sax was a talented musician and inventor but lacked the ability to manage his business and finances effectively. He was bankrupted 3 times, in 1852, 1873 and 1877. When a 4th bankruptcy loomed, Emmanuel III intervened to prevent it.

Sax kept improving his instruments and, in addition to the saxophone, he invented the saxotromba, saxtuba and saxhorn (a valved bugle that led to the development of the flugelhorn and the euphonium we know today).

Sax taught for many years at the Paris Conservatory before dying in total poverty in Paris in 1894. He is buried in Montmartre Cemetery.