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Anna Sundström, born as ''Anna Christina Persdotter'' (26 February 1785 in
Anna Sundström Award
Karolinska Institutet 200 År - 1810-2010
(Swedish language) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sundstrom, Anna Swedish chemists 1785 births Swedish women chemists 19th-century Swedish scientists 1871 deaths 19th-century women scientists 19th-century chemists Swedish women scientists
Anna Sundström, born as ''Anna Christina Persdotter'' (26 February 1785 in Kymlinge
Kymlinge () is an area of Sundbyberg Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. It is mostly a recreational park, part of which is a nature reserve (Igelbäcken).
History
The area has been inhabited since the Iron Age. The name is known since 1347, ...
, Spånga
Spånga is a community and parish in the borough of Spånga-Tensta in Stockholm County, Sweden.
Background
Spånga was an independent municipality until January 1, 1949 when most of it was merged with the City of Stockholm, with smaller por ...
– 1871), was a Swedish chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
. She was the assistant of the chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius
Baron Jöns Jacob Berzelius (; by himself and his contemporaries named only Jacob Berzelius, 20 August 1779 – 7 August 1848) was a Swedish chemist. Berzelius is considered, along with Robert Boyle, John Dalton, and Antoine Lavoisier, to be on ...
from 1808 to 1836. Anna Sundström has been referred to as the first female chemist in Sweden.
Biography
Anna Persdotter was the daughter of the farmer Per Jansson, and later took the name Sundström. Early on, she moved to the capital to serve as a maid, and was in 1808 employed as the housekeeper of Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who was regarded as one of the fathers of modern chemistry. She acted effectively as his assistant and co worker during his research. During her work she was educated in chemistry and acquired a vast knowledge within it. Berzelius stated : "She is used to all my equipment and their names to such a degree that I could without hesitation make her distillHydrochloric acid
Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid
Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbol ...
."
Sundström also administrated his laboratory as well as supervised his students, who affectionally called her "strict Anna".
She was forced to end her employment when Berzelius married Elisabeth Poppius in 1836. Here is some of the work that was done by Berzelius during the period in which Sundstrom was assisting him.
* The electrochemical reaction theory, which concludes that an electrical current can be sent between two substances to initiate a change of electrons.
* Electrochemical dualism, one of the better known works. It dealt with the voltaic pile, which was used in the first electrical battery invented by Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...
in 1803, and its power to decomposes chemically in such a way that they were broken into tow oppositely charged components.
* Stoichiometry in inorganic chemistry putting place the atomic weights of elements and the formulas for all inorganic compounds. This led later scientists coining it with the name stoichiometry
* The discovery of the elements vanadium, lanthanum, didymium, erbium, terbium, and selenium.
Legacy
Every year the Swedish Chemical Society's division ofinorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...
selects the best Swedish PhD-thesis in inorganic chemistry and presents the author with the Anna Sundström Award.See also
*Timeline of women in science
This is a timeline of women in science, spanning from ancient history up to the 21st century. While the timeline primarily focuses on women involved with natural sciences such as astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics, it also includes women f ...
Notes
References
* Jöns Jacob Berzelius: Reseanteckningar (1903)Karolinska Institutet 200 År - 1810-2010
(Swedish language) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sundstrom, Anna Swedish chemists 1785 births Swedish women chemists 19th-century Swedish scientists 1871 deaths 19th-century women scientists 19th-century chemists Swedish women scientists