Martin Heinrich Klaproth
Klaproth, a German chemist, was born in Wernigerode in the Harz on December 1, 1743. After his family was impoverished by a fire, he earned money for schooling by singing in the church choir. At the age of sixteeen, Klaproth was apprenticed to an apothecary. He spent five years in that apprenticeship, followed by four years in the public laboratories at Quedlinburg and at Hanover. In 1768, he joined Wedland's laboratory in Berlin as an assistant. Klaproth became an assistant to Valentin Rose in 1770. When Rose died only a few months later, Klaproth assumed all the responsibilities of his position. He even acted as father to Rose's two sons. Although he never isolated a new element for the first time, Klaproth's excellent analytical work resulted in his discovery of uranium (1789), zirconium (1789), cerium (1803), and titanium (1795). He was well known in his time for the care and exactness of his work. Klaproth is also associated with the discovery of tellurium. Klaproth was the first professor of chemistry at the University of Berlin when it was founded in 1810, even though he was sixty-seven years old. He remained at the university until his death in 1817. |
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