Aristid von Grosse (January 1905 – July 21, 1985) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

nuclear chemist Nuclear chemistry is the sub-field of chemistry dealing with radioactivity, nuclear processes, and transformations in the nuclei of atoms, such as nuclear transmutation and nuclear properties. It is the chemistry of radioactive elements such as ...

. During his work with

Otto Hahn Otto Hahn (; 8 March 1879 – 28 July 1968) was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and father of nuclear fission. Hahn and Lise Meitner ...

, he got access to waste material from

radium Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather t ...

production, and with this starting material he was able in 1927 to isolate

protactinium(V) oxide Protactinium(V) oxide is a chemical compound with the formula Pa2 O5. When it is reduced with hydrogen, it forms PaO2. Aristid V. Grosse was first to prepare 2 mg of Pa2O5 in 1927. Pa2O5 does not dissolve in concentrated HNO3, but dissolve ...

and was later able to produce metallic

protactinium Protactinium (formerly protoactinium) is a chemical element with the symbol Pa and atomic number 91. It is a dense, silvery-gray actinide metal which readily reacts with oxygen, water vapor and inorganic acids. It forms various chemical compounds ...

by decomposition of

protactinium(V) iodide Protactinium(V) iodide is an inorganic compound, with the chemical formula of PaI5. It can be prepared by the reaction of metals protactinium and iodine, or by reacting protactinium(V) chloride, protactinium(V) bromide or protactinium(V) oxide ...

. From 1948 to 1969, he was president of the Research Institute of

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

and was later affiliated with the laboratories of the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

in Philadelphia until his retirement in 1979. In 1971, he received a

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President H ...

award in recognition of his "outstanding contributions to the development of nuclear energy." Aristid was born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

in January 1905 and moved to the United States in 1930. He retired in 1979 and died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Laguna Hills, California Laguna Hills (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in south Orange County, California, United States. Its name refers to its proximity to Laguna Canyon and the much older Laguna Beach. Other newer cities nearby—Laguna Niguel and Lagun ...

on July 21, 1985.

References

1905 births 1985 deaths Scientists from Riga 20th-century American chemists Baltic-German people Manhattan Project people Nuclear chemists Temple University faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society Deaths from pneumonia in California Latvian emigrants to the United States {{US-chemist-stub