Per Teodor Cleve

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Per Teodor Cleve
Per Teodor Cleve, c. 1880–1890
Born10 February 1840
Stockholm, Sweden
Died18 June 1905(1905-06-18) (aged 65)
Uppsala, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
Alma materStockholms Lyceum (1858)
Uppsala University (1863)
Known fordiscovery of holmium and thulium
Spouse
​
(m. 1874)​
ChildrenAstrid Cleve
Agnes Cleve-Jonand
Célie Brunius
AwardsDavy Medal (1894)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry, geology

Per Teodor Cleve (10 February 1840 – 18 June 1905) was a Swedish

oceanographer. He is best known for his discovery of the chemical elements holmium and thulium.[1][2]

Born in Stockholm in 1840, Cleve earned his

PhD from Uppsala University in 1863 and 1868, respectively. After receiving his PhD, he became an assistant professor of chemistry at the university. He later became professor of general and agricultural chemistry. In 1874 he theorised that didymium was in fact two elements; this theory was confirmed in 1885 when Carl Auer von Welsbach discovered neodymium and praseodymium
.

In 1879 Cleve discovered holmium and thulium.[3] His other contributions to chemistry include the discovery of aminonaphthalenesulfonic acids, also known as Cleve's acids. From 1890 on he focused on biological studies. He developed a method of determining the age and order of late glacial and postglacial deposits from the types of diatom fossils in the deposits, and wrote a seminal text in the field of oceanography. He died in 1905 at age 65.

Early life

Cleve in 1863

Cleve was born in Stockholm, Sweden, as the thirteenth child of his father,[1][4] a merchant known as Fredrik Theodor Cleve.[4][5] Cleve's ancestors on his father's side came from western Germany and settled in Sweden in the late 18th century.[5]

Cleve showed interest in

PhD from the same university in 1868.[4]

Career

In 1860, aged 20, Cleve became

Royal Institute of Technology between 1870 and 1874, and eventually became professor of general and agricultural chemistry at the University of Uppsala.[1] He was the chair of chemistry at the University of Uppsala starting in 1874. He was also the president of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.[7]

Cleve's first work was Några ammoniakaliska chromföreningar (Some compounds of ammonia and chromium, 1861).[2][6] He also wrote several more papers on complex compounds, including the compounds of platinum.[2][6] Additionally, Cleve synthesized several hundred complex platinum compounds.[6]

Cleve visited a number of laboratories in England, France, Italy, and Switzerland in the 1860s.

Charles-Adolphe Wurtz and also made a number of friends there.[6]

Cleve in the lab, c. 1900

Cleve worked on the synthesis of complex chemical compounds until 1872.

thulium oxide).[8][9] However, this sample may have been impure.[10] He separated thulium from an erbium oxide sample in 1879.[11] Additionally, Cleve and Abraham Langlet discovered helium in the mineral cleveite in 1895.[12][3][13][14]

Cleve discovered six forms of

phaeodarians.[15]

Cleve, in collaboration with Otto Höglund prepared numerous previously-undiscovered salts of yttrium and erbium. The two also did work on the chemistry of the chemical elements thorium and lanthanum. By 1874, Cleve discovered that thorium was a quadrivalent element and also determined lanthanum to be trivalent. These findings were initially doubted by the scientific community.[5]

Cleve was the first observer of isomerism in platinumamine derivatives.[7]

Additionally, Cleve created a method of dating glacial and post-glacial deposits in the

fossil record.[4]

Cleve's PhD

PhD) and Svante Arrhenius (a winner of the Nobel Prize).[4]

Cleve also studied hydrography and geology.[4]

Personal life, family, and death

In 1874, Cleve married

botanist.[4][16] His son-in-law and grandson, Hans von Euler-Chelpin and Ulf von Euler, both won Nobel Prizes.[4] Cleve was friends with Thomas Edward Thorpe.[5] The second daughter, Agnes Cleve-Jonand (born Agnes Elisabet Cleve) (1876-1951), was a visual artist and pioneer of Modernism in Sweden. The third and last daughter, Célie Brunius (born Gerda Cecilia Afrodite Cleve) (1882-1980), was a journalist. His daughter Agnes was married to illustrator, set designer and artist John Jon-And. His daughter Célie was married to writer August Brunius and was the mother of artist Göran Brunius, journalist Clas Brunius and associate professor Teddy Brunius. The television host and politician Lisette Schulman
was his great-granddaughter.

Per Teodore Cleve was a supporter of

women's equality and Ellen Fries, the first Swedish woman to receive a PhD, was one of his students.[4]

Cleve began experiencing pleurisy in December 1904 and it affected his heart. He thought that he had recovered by the spring of 1905, and he returned home to Uppsala, Sweden,.[5] but he died there on 18 June 1905.[1]

Awards and legacy

Cleve joined the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1871. He received a Davy Medal in 1894 and 1904.[4][7]

The mineral cleveite is named for Cleve.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Per Teodor Cleve". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Charles Scribner's Sons (2008), "Cleve, Per Teodor", encyclopedia.com, archived from the original on 15 March 2014, retrieved 13 March 2014
  3. ^ a b c Marshall, James L. Marshall; Marshall, Virginia R. Marshall (2015). "Rediscovery of the elements: The Rare Earths–The Confusing Years" (PDF). The Hexagon: 72–77. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Per Theodor Cleve, retrieved 13 March 2014
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Chemical Society (Great Britain), Sir Humphry Davy, Bureau of Chemical Abstracts (Great Britain) (21 June 1906), The collected works of Sir Humphry Davy ...: Discourses delivered before the Royal society. Elements of agricultural chemistry, pt. I, Smith, Elder and Company{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Ole Bostrup (2004), "Cleve, Per Theodor", encyclopedia.com, archived from the original on 15 March 2014, retrieved 14 March 2014
  7. ^ a b c Ira Remsen; Charles August Rouillu, eds. (1905), American Chemical Journal, Volume 34
  8. ^ a b Doug Stewart, "Holmium Element Facts / Chemistry", chemicool.com, retrieved 14 March 2014
  9. ^ Bradley Brooks, "Introduction to Holmium", Penetanguishene Secondary School, archived from the original on 15 March 2014, retrieved 14 March 2014
  10. ISBN 978-0199605637
  11. ISBN 978-0199605637
  12. ^ Marshall, James L.; Marshall, Virginia R. (2012). "Rediscovery of the Elements: Helium" (PDF). The Hexagon (Spring): 20–29. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  13. ^ Weeks, Mary Elvira (1956). The discovery of the elements (6th ed.). Easton, PA: Journal of Chemical Education.
  14. ISBN 9783642020889
  15. doi:10.1144/jmpaleo2012-024
  16. ISBN 0810849798

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Per Teodor Cleve.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Per_Teodor_Cleve&oldid=1176617571"