Johannes Sibertus Kuffler (1595–1677) was a German inventor and chemist, from
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
.
He had a 1618 doctorate from the
University of Padua
The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...
. After he married Catherina, daughter of
Cornelius Drebbel
Cornelis Jacobszoon Drebbel ( ) (1572 – 7 November 1633) was a Dutch engineer and inventor. He was the builder of the first operational submarine in 1620 and an innovator who contributed to the development of measurement and control systems, ...
, he started in a successful
dyeing
Dyeing is the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibers, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving color with desired color fastness. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular c ...
business in
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
, with his brother Abraham. Supposedly he used a procedure invented by his father-in-law, using
stannic chloride as a fixative.
He was an associate of
Johann Glauber
Johann Rudolf Glauber (10 March 1604 – 16 March 1670) was a German-Dutch alchemy, alchemist and chemist. Some historians of science have described him as one of the first chemical engineers. His discovery of sodium sulfate in 1625 led to t ...
, and went into an alchemical venture with
Johann Moriaen Johann Moriaen (born Nuremberg c.1591-1668) was a German alchemist and early chemist, known as an associate of Samuel Hartlib. He was active in recruiting for Hartlib's network of intellectuals, the Hartlib Circle, and communicating with them. He w ...
and
Benjamin Worsley Benjamin Worsley (1618–1673) was an English physician, Surveyor-General of Ireland, experimental scientist, civil servant and intellectual figure of Commonwealth England. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, but may not have graduated.Newman a ...
.
In 1656 the alchemist
Israel Tonge
Israel Tonge (11 November 1621 – 1680), aka Ezerel or Ezreel Tongue, was an English divine. He was an informer in and probably one of the inventors of the "Popish" plot.
Career
Tonge was born at Tickhill, near Doncaster, the son of Henry Tong ...
provided a loan of 100 pounds to have the Kuffler family moved from
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
in the Netherlands to England so that "his abilities in his profession, his relation to Cornelius Dribellius his life & conversation & concerning the reality & certaintie of the Experiments, hereafter mentioned in these præsents, shall vnto wise & indiferent men be of satisfaction.".
He later moved it to
Bow, London
Bow () is an area of East London within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is primarily a built-up and mostly residential area and is east of Charing Cross.
It was in the traditional county of Middlesex but became part of the County o ...
. The new colour was called "Color Kufflerianus" or "
Bow dye". During
the Protectorate
The Protectorate, officially the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, refers to the period from 16 December 1653 to 25 May 1659 during which England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and associated territories were joined together in the Co ...
they also spent much effort promoting a 'secret weapon' (torpedo or submarine) for naval warfare, petitioning
Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell.
On his father's deat ...
.
Like his father-in-law, he contributed to technology, in the matter of
ovens that were self-regulating.
Development of the Self-Regulating Oven , Science and Its Times: 1450-1699
/ref> He demonstrated a use as incubator
An incubator is anything that performs or facilitates various forms of incubation, and may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Incubator (culture), a device used to grow and maintain microbiological cultures or cell cultures
* Incubator (egg), a de ...
to the Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
.
Notes
External links
Mentioned in the Diary of Samuel Pepys
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuffler, Johannes Sibertus
1595 births
1677 deaths
German alchemists
17th-century German chemists
17th-century German inventors
17th-century alchemists