Adolphe Sax
Antoine-Joseph Sax was born on 6 November 1814, in Dinant, in what is now Belgium, to Charles-Joseph Sax and his wife. While his given name was Antoine-Joseph, he was referred to as Adolphe from childhood. His father and mother were instrument designers themselves, who made several changes to the design of the French horn. Adolphe began to make his own instruments at an early age, entering two of his flutes and a clarinet into a competition at the age of 15. He subsequently studied performance on those two instruments as well as voice at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.
Adolph Frank
Adolph Frank was born in the town of Klötze (now in Altmarkkreis Salzwedel in Altmark, Saxony-Anhalt. He was the son of a Jewish merchant, who—like Frank's grandfather—ran a general store. Frank studied the secondary school in Strelitz, now part of Neustrelitz, and then Jacobsohn School in Seesen. Then, he took up an apprenticeship as an apothecary in Osterburg, because he was interested in chemistry. From 1855 to 1857 he studied pharmacy, natural sciences and technology at the university in Berlin. In the same year he passed the examination to become an apothecary with a grade of 1 (the best possible grade in the German school system). In 1861 and 1862, he received his doctorate in chemistry from the university in Göttingen with a work about the production of sugar. Before this, in 1858, he had already received his first patent while working for a sugar beet factory in Staßfurt. He received this patent for having discovered a way to clean beet juice with clay soaps. The emphasis of his work was on the use of potash as an artificial fertilizer.