Christian Gottlob Gmelin (12 October 1792 – 13 May 1860) was a German

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 ...

. He was born in Tübingen, Germany, and was a grandson of Johann Konrad Gmelin and a great-grandson of

Johann Georg Gmelin Johann Georg Gmelin (8 August 1709 – 20 May 1755) was a German naturalist, botanist and geographer. Early life and education Gmelin was born in Tübingen, the son of a professor at the University of Tübingen. He was a gifted child and began ...

Scientific career

In 1818, Gmelin was one of the first to observe that

lithium salts Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...

give a bright red color in a flame. In 1826,

Jean-Baptiste Guimet Jean-Baptiste Guimet (20 July 17958 April 1871), French industrial chemist, and inventor of synthetic colors, was born at Voiron, Isère. He studied at the École Polytechnique in Paris, and in 1817 entered the Administration des Poudres et Sa ...

was credited with having devised a process for the artificial manufacture of

ultramarine Ultramarine is a deep blue color pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ''ultramarinus'', literally 'beyond the sea', because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afgh ...

. Two years later, in 1828, Gmelin published his own process for the artificial manufacture of ultramarine. Since Gmelin was the first to publish this process, he received the recognition for this discovery. In his publication, Gmelin stated that silica, alumina, and soda are the main constituents of ultramarine and the rich color comes from sulfur.

Death

Gmelin died in Tübingen, Germany, where he spent his entire life, on May 13, 1860.

Works

* ''Einleitung in die Chemie'' . Vol.1&2 . Laupp, Thüringen 1835-183
Digital edition
by the

University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...

References

1792 births 1860 deaths 19th-century German chemists University of Tübingen faculty {{Germany-chemist-stub