Friedrich Wöhler
It has been said that Friedrich Wöhler was the last great "all rounder" in chemistry. He began his work as a boy, preparing oxygen, extracting phophorus, and isolating potassium in the bedroom of his home in Frankfurt, Germany. After his graduation in medicine in 1823, he went to work for the great chemist Berzelius in Stockholm (Sweden) and began a lifetime of contributions to both organic and inorganic chemistry.
It may well be a chemical myth that Wöhler was the first to prepare urea from inorganic sources, but he had many admirers who claimed for him many doubtful priorities. When he died in 1882, his obituary said, "As a colleague, a teacher, and in every relation of private life, Wöhler was esteemed and beloved for his kindliness and geniality of his disposition, his modesty, and his uprightness."
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