Gustaf Erik Pasch (born Berggren) (3 September 1788 – 6 September 1862) was a Swedish inventor and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of chemistry at

Karolinska institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and inventor of the

safety match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

. He was born in

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

, the son of a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

. He enrolled at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in 1806 and graduated with a master's degree in 1821. Pasch is mostly known for the safety match, but he was also involved with making waterproof concrete for the

Göta Canal The Göta Canal ( sv, Göta kanal) is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. The canal is long, of which were dug or blasted, with a width varying between and a maximum depth of about .Uno Svedin, Britt Hägerhäll Anianss ...

, manufacture of

bank notes A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

and growing of

silk worm Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

s. He married Augusta Fredrika Vilhelmina Berg in 1827. In 1827, he was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

Safety matches

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 ...

, who invented the modern chemical notation, discovered that the dangerous

white phosphorus Elemental phosphorus can exist in several allotropes, the most common of which are white and red solids. Solid violet and black allotropes are also known. Gaseous phosphorus exists as diphosphorus and atomic phosphorus. White phosphorus White ...

in matches could be replaced with the more benign

red phosphorus Elemental phosphorus can exist in several allotropes, the most common of which are white and red solids. Solid violet and black allotropes are also known. Gaseous phosphorus exists as diphosphorus and atomic phosphorus. White phosphorus White ...

, but was not able to produce a match reliable enough for everyday use. Pasch, a student of Berzelius, managed to do so by moving the phosphorus from the head of the match to a specially prepared striking surface. Pasch was granted a patent on the safety match in 1844. Manufacturing was started at ''"J.S. Bagge & co:s Kemiska fabrik"'' (J.S. Bagge & Company's Chemical Factory) in Stockholm, but ran into difficulties due to the quality of the striking surface. Another problem was that the production of red phosphorus was prohibitively expensive making the final matches very expensive.Gustaf Pasch
/ref> Because of this, Pasch was unable to commercially exploit his invention and production soon ceased. It was not until

John Edvard Lundström John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and his younger brother Carl Frans, who took the Pasch design and improved on it that the safety match became commercially successful a decade later, around 1855–60. Lundström's safety match got an award at the “World Exhibition” in Paris 1855.

Later life

Pasch died without getting rich from the invention that would be the fuel of the Kreuger empire. He was however successful in his role as professor and a member of many prominent societies. From 1846 to 1861, Pasch published the annuals of the Swedish silkgrower society. From 1827 to his death he was the secretary of ''"Kungliga Patriotiska sällskapet"'' (The Royal Patriot Society).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasch, Gustaf Erik Swedish chemists 19th-century Swedish inventors Uppsala University alumni Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 1788 births 1862 deaths People from Norrköping