Antoine Alphonse Chassepot (1833–1905) was a French inventor and gunsmith. He was born in 1833 at Mutzig in Alsace. He invented the breech-loading, center-fire needle gun rifle known as the Chassepot. It was adopted by the French army in 1866 for which he received the Cross of the Légion d'honneur and a gratuity of 30,000 francs.