Anton Schrötter von Kristelli (26 November 1802 – 15 April 1875) was an Austrian

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

and

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

born in

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

. His son Leopold Schrötter Ritter von Kristelli (1837–1908) was a noted

laryngologist The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal inlet is about 4 ...

Academic background

Anton's father was an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

. He initially studied medicine in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

at the request of his father,Statements based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

but switched to the

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

under the influence of

Friedrich Mohs Carl Friedrich Christian Mohs ( , ; 29 January 1773 – 29 September 1839) was a German chemist and mineralogist. He was the creator of the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Mohs also introduced a classification of the crystal forms in crysta ...

(1773–1839). In 1827 he became an assistant to

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

Andreas von Ettingshausen (1796–1878) and to physicist

Andreas von Baumgartner Andreas () is a name derived from the Greek noun ἀνήρ ''anēr'', with genitive ἀνδρός ''andros'', which means "man". See the article on Andrew for more information. The Scandinavian name is earliest attested as antreos in a runestone ...

(1793–1865) at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. Three years later he was appointed professor of physics and chemistry at the Joanneum Technical Institute in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, and from 1843 served as a professor of technical chemistry at the Polytechnic Institute in Vienna. In 1845 he succeeded Paul Traugott Meissner (1778–1864) as chair of chemistry. In 1868 he was appointed Master of the Austrian State Mint (''Münze Österreich''). Declining health made him retire in 1874.

Contributions

As a chemist he conducted research involving reactions of metals with

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

at higher temperatures, and performed investigations of substances such as

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

idrialite Idrialite is a rare hydrocarbon mineral with approximate chemical formula C22H14. Idrialite usually occurs as soft orthorhombic crystals, is usually greenish yellow to light brown in color with bluish fluorescence. It is named after Idrija, town i ...

ozokerite Ozokerite or ozocerite, archaically referred to as earthwax or earth wax, is a naturally occurring odoriferous mineral wax or paraffin found in many localities. Lacking a definite composition and crystalline structure, it is not considered a m ...

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

and dopplerite. He also investigated the reactive behavior of

potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...

in liquid

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...

, of

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

and

antimony Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

in liquid

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...

, and of iron towards

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

at very low temperatures. In 1845 he discovered a process for preparing

red phosphorus Red phosphorus is an Allotropes of phosphorus, allotrope of phosphorus. It is an amorphous polymeric red solid that is stable in air. It can be easily converted from white phosphorus under light or heating. It finds applications as matches and fir ...

, a development which led to the invention 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 a scientific consultant to the Novara Expedition (1857–59), as well as to the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition. His name is associated with the ''Schrötterhorn'' of the

Ortler Ortler (; ) is, at above sea level, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of South Tyrol in Italy, of Tyrol overall ...

gruppe in the Alps and "Cape Schrötter" on

Franz Josef Land Franz Josef Land () is a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It is inhabited only by military personnel. It constitutes the northernmost part of Arkhangelsk Oblast and consists of 192 islands, which cover an area of , stretching from east ...

.Short biography
@

aeiou Encyclopedia Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works on Austria in German language, German, with some articles in English language, English, initiated by Graz University of Technology, TU Graz. As of 2022, Austria-Forum has be ...

With Ettingshausen, Baumgartner and Wilhelm von Haidinger (1795–1871), he was a founding member of the

Austrian Academy of Sciences The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

, serving as its secretary from 1851 until his death. Since 1876, the ''Schröttergasse'' in the

Favoriten Favoriten (; ), the 10th district of Vienna, Austria (), is located south of the central districts. It is south of Innere Stadt, Wieden and Margareten. Favoriten is a heavily populated urban area with many residential buildings, but also la ...

district of Vienna has been named in his honor.

Selected writings

* ''Die Chemie nach ihrem gegenwärtigen Zustand'' (1847–1849); two volumes. * ''Beschreibung eines Verfahrens zur fabrikmäßigen Darstellung des amorphen Phosphors'' (Description of a method for factory representation of amorphous phosphorus), (1848) * ''Ueber einen neuen allotropischen Zustand des Phosphors'' (About a new

allotropic Allotropy or allotropism () is the property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, in the same physical state, known as allotropes of the elements. Allotropes are different structural modifications of an element: the ...

state of phosphorus), (1849) * ''Ueber das Vorkommen des Ozons im Mineralreich'' (About the presence of

ozone Ozone () (or trioxygen) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , break ...

in the mineral kingdom), (1860)

Notes

NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographie
(biography) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schrotter Von Kristelli, Anton 1802 births 1875 deaths Scientists from the Austrian Empire 19th-century Austrian chemists Austrian mineralogists Habsburg Bohemian nobility Scientists from Olomouc Academic staff of the Graz University of Technology Academic staff of TU Wien