Andrés Manuel del Río y Fernández (10 November 1764 – 23 March 1849) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

– Mexican

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

, naturalist and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

who discovered compounds of '' vanadium'' in 1801. He proposed that the element be given the name ''panchromium'', or later, ''erythronium'', but his discovery was not credited at the time, and his names were not used.

Education

Andrés del Río studied

analytical chemistry Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separati ...

and metallurgy in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where he was born. He received his bachelor's degree from the

University of Alcalá de Henares A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

in 1780 at the age of fifteen. The government gave him a scholarship to enter the Royal Academy of Mines in

Almadén Almadén () is a town and municipality in the Spanish province of Ciudad Real, within the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The town is located at 4° 49' W and 38° 46' N and is 589 meters above sea level. Almadén is approximately 3 ...

, Spain, as of June 1782. He showed great aptitude. In 1783 he was given a travel grant by the Spanish Ministry of Mines. He used it to study in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, with the chemist Jean Darcet at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

. Del Río continued his studies at the Mining Academy in

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

, Germany, under the direction of

Abraham Gottlob Werner Abraham Gottlob Werner (; 25 September 174930 June 1817) was a German geologist who set out an early theory about the stratification of the Earth's crust and propounded a history of the Earth that came to be known as Neptunism. While most tenet ...

in 1789. In Freiberg he got to know Baron

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...

. Del Río went on to study at the Austrian Imperial-Royal Mining Academy at Schemnitz,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, with Anton von Rupprecht, as well as in England. Del Rio returned to Paris in 1791 where he was a colleague (''asociado'') of

Antoine Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794),
CNRS (

René Just Haüy René Just Haüy () FRS MWS FRSE (28 February 1743 – 1 June 1822) was a French priest and mineralogist, commonly styled the Abbé Haüy after he was made an honorary canon of Notre Dame. Due to his innovative work on crystal structure and hi ...

, who is considered the founder of crystallography. As a result of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, a warrant for Lavoisier's arrest was issued on 4 November 1793. Lavoisier was executed on the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

on 8 May 1794. After Lavoisier's arrest, Del Río escaped to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Mining in New Spain

In 1792, the Real Seminario de Minería (College of Mines) was founded in New Spain by a decree of King Charles III of Spain, with the object of reforming the study of mining and metallurgy in the colony. The institution was initially headed by

Fausto Elhúyar Fausto de Elhuyar (11 October 1755 – 6 February 1833) was a Spanish chemist, and the first to isolate tungsten with his brother Juan José Elhuyar in 1783. He was in charge, under a King of Spain commission, of organizing the School of Mines i ...

(1755–1833), the discoverer of

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...

. In 1793, Elhúyar offered Del Río a position as chair at the newly organized college. Del Rio refused the chair of chemistry, but accepted that of mineralogy. Note: Del Rio cannot have traveled on the ''San Pedro de Alcantara'' as it sank in 1786. Del Río arrived at the port of

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

on 20 October 1794, on the ship ''San Francisco de Alcántara'' out of

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. Once in his new position, del Río dedicated himself to teaching and scientific investigation. On 27 April 1795 he opened the first course in mineralogy ever presented in New Spain. He made important studies of minerals and developed innovative methods in mining. He also wrote the first textbook of mineralogy to be published anywhere in America, ''Elementos de Orictognosía'', and the first in Spanish rather than German or English. Volume I appeared in 1795, and volume II in 1805. Santiago Ramírez, his student and later his biographer, described it as "a monumental work, which... will be an object of veneration and consultation". "Monumental trabajo objeto de veneración y consulta por todos los mineralogistas..." German naturalist,

, making a survey of resources in Spanish-held colonies for Spain, reported favorably that it was in Mexico where the best work of mineralogy in Spanish had been published, the ''Elementos de Orictognosia'' of Señor Del Rio. Humboldt spent the period from March 1803 to March 1804 in Mexico City, renewing his friendship with del Rio and actively participating in the investigations of the College of Mining. He organized excursions to

Chapultepec Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest city parks in Mexico, measuring in total just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). Centered on a rock formation called Chapultep ...

, to the basaltic zone of Pedregal de San Ángel, the lava fields of the

Xitle Xitle ( Nahuatl, "navel") is a monogenetic volcano in the Ajusco range in Cumbres del Ajusco National Park. It is located in the Tlalpan borough in the southwestern part of Mexico City. It is an ash cone volcano with a conical form, round base, ...

volcano, and to the hot springs of Peñón de los Baños, a rocky outcrop close to the modern Mexico City International Airport, accumulating data and samples of minerals and rocks that were then submitted to chemical tests for identification. In 1820 del Río was named a deputy to the

Spanish Cortes The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets i ...

. He was a liberal who argued for the independence of New Spain. He was in Madrid when Mexico gained its independence. Invited to remain in Spain, he nevertheless returned to Mexico (in 1821), which he considered his homeland. In 1829, after the turbulent period of war with Spain, the government of independent Mexico expelled the Spaniards resident in the country, with some notable exceptions. Del Río was one of the exceptions. The expulsion had a major impact on the work of the College of Mining. The director, Fausto Elhúyar, was forced to resign and leave the country. Indignant over the expulsion of his colleagues, del Río showed solidarity by himself entering voluntary exile in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

for four years. There he was highly honored. He took part in the scientific activities of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

(elected 1830) and was elected president of the Geological Society of Philadelphia. John Hurtel of Philadelphia published a new edition of del Rio's book in 1832. Del Rio returned to Mexico in 1834 and again occupied the chair of mineralogy at the college. He was also given the chair of geology.

The discovery of vanadium

In 1801, while examining mineral samples sent to him by the Purísima del Cardenal mine in Zimapán in the State of Hidalgo, del Río arrived at the conclusion that he had found a new metallic element. He prepared various compounds of the element, and observing their diverse colors, he named the element ''panchromium'' (Greek: παγχρώμιο "all colors"). Later, on observing that the compounds changed color to red on heating, he substituted the name ''erythronium'' (Greek: ερυθρός "red"). The following year he gave samples containing the new element to

, who sent them on to

Hippolyte Victor Collet-Descotils Hippolyte-Victor Collet-Descotils (November 21, 1773 in Caen – December 6, 1815 in Paris) was a French chemist. He studied in the École des Mines de Paris, and was a student and friend of Louis Nicolas Vauquelin. He is best known for confir ...

in París for his analysis. Collet-Descotils's analysis found (mistakenly) that the samples contained only chromium. Humboldt, in turn, rejected del Río's claim of the discovery of a new element, and del Río himself concluded his discovery had been an error. In 1830, 27 years after its initial discovery, Professor

Nils Gabriel Sefström Nils Gabriel Sefström (2 June 1787 – 30 November 1845) was a Swedish chemist. Sefström was a student of Berzelius and, when studying the brittleness of steel in 1830, he rediscovered a new chemical element, to which he gave the name vanad ...

of Sweden rediscovered the element in a sample of iron of Taberg. He gave it its current name, ''vanadium'', in honor of the Scandinavian goddess of love and beauty, Vanadis. In the same year, Friedrich Wöhler, the German chemist who had synthesized

urea Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important ...

, analyzed some of del Río's samples of brown lead ore of Zimapán and demonstrated that Sefström's vanadium and del Rio's erythronium were the same. In 1831 the U.S. geologist

George William Featherstonhaugh George William Featherstonhaugh ( /ˈfɪərstənhɔː/ '' FEER-stən-haw''; 9 April 1780, in London – 28 September 1866, in Le Havre) was a British-American geologist and geographer. He was one of the proposers of the Albany and Schenectady Ra ...

proposed without success that the element should be named ''rionium'', in honor of its original discoverer. An extensive analysis of the publication history of papers relating to the discovery of the element suggests that the intervention of J. J. Berzelius on behalf of his students Sefström and Wöhler, was highly instrumental in influencing the element's attribution and naming, reflecting patterns of scientific prestige and control of discourse in the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1867 the English chemist

Henry Enfield Roscoe Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe (7 January 1833 – 18 December 1915) was a British chemist. He is particularly noted for early work on vanadium, photochemical studies, and his assistance in creating Oxo (food), in its earlier liquid form. Life a ...

isolated the pure metal for the first time. He used hydrogen to get rid of the chloride around the pure vanadium.

Later life

In 1805 del Río established an ironworks at Coalcomán. After overcoming numerous obstacles, he produced the first

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

in Mexico, on 29 April 1807. Four years later, during the

Mexican War of Independence The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...

, the royalists destroyed the ironworks. The iron he produced was superior to the celebrated imported iron from

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

(Vizcaya), Spain. Del Rio was bitter about Humboldt's mistake in not confirming the discovery of vanadium, and strongly reproached him. He continued to teach at the College of Mines until his death, a course that "could well have been taught at the Polytechnic school in Paris", according to

Michel Chevalier Michel Chevalier (; 13 January 1806 – 18 November 1879) was a French engineer, statesman, economist and free market liberal. Biography Born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, Chevalier studied at the ''École Polytechnique'', obtaining an engineerin ...

, who visited del Río shortly before the latter's death.

Death and recognition

Andrés Manuel del Río died at 84 in 1849, after a long and productive academic career. His work and his liberal politics were important to the building of an independent Mexican nation. He was the founding professor of mineralogy at the College of Mines, which laid the base for the current Institute of Geology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He was a member of the

Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences The Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences ( Spanish: ''Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales'') is an academic institution and learned society that was founded in Madrid in 1847. It is dedicated to the study and research of mathem ...

in Madrid, the

Wernerian Natural History Society The Wernerian Natural History Society (12 January 1808 – 16 April 1858), commonly abbreviated as the Wernerian Society, was a learned society interested in the broad field of natural history, and saw papers presented on various topics such as ...

of Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Sciences of France, the Economic Society of Leipzig, the Linnean Society of Leipzig, the Royal Academy of Saxony and the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. He was also president of the Geological Society of Philadelphia and the

Lyceum of Natural History The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...

of New York. His extensive scientific work, besides the first identification of vanadium, included the discovery and description of various minerals and the invention of methods of extraction of minerals for use in the mining industry. After his death, the important mining district that includes Batopilas in Chihuahua was named in his honor. The Chemical Society of Mexico instituted the prestigious National Chemistry Prize "Andrés Manuel Del Río" in 1964, with the object of giving public recognition to the work done by chemical professionals who have made extraordinary contributions to raise the level and prestige of the profession. It is awarded with a medal containing the likeness of del Río and a commemorative plaque. Andrés Manuel Del Río,

Luis E. Miramontes Luis Ernesto Miramontes Cárdenas (March 16, 1925 – September 13, 2004) was a Mexican chemist known as the co-inventor of the progestin norethisterone used in one of the first three oral contraceptives. Miramontes was born in Tepic, Nayarit ...

, inventor of the first oral contraceptive, and Mario J. Molina, winner of the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...

in 1995, are the three Mexican chemists of outstanding world significance. Miramontes won the "Andrés Manuel Del Río" Prize in 1986.

Selected scientific works

''Elementos de Orictognesia o del conocimiento de los fósiles''
prepared for use in the Real Seminario de Mineria de México, 1795. *''Analyse des deux nouvelles espéces minérales composées de séléniure de zinc et de sulfure de mercure''. Annales des Mines, Paris, 5, 1829. *''Découverte de l'iodure de mercure au Mexique''. Annales des Mines, Paris, 5, 1829. *''Elementos de Orictognesia, o del conocimiento de los fósiles según el sistema de Bercelio; y según los principios de Abraham Góttlob Wérner, con la sinonimia inglesa, alemana y francesa, para uso del Seminario Nacional de Minería de México''. Philadelphia, 1832, .

References

Bibliography

* "Río, Andrés Manuel del," ''Enciclopedia de México'', v. 12. Mexico City, 1987. * Alessio Robles, Vito. ''El ilustre maestro Andrés Manuel del Río''. Mexico City, 1937. 31 p. * Arnaiz y Freg, Arturo. ''Andrés Manuel del Río: Estudio biográfico''. Mexico City: Casino Español de México, 1936. * Arnaiz y Freg, Arturo. ''Don Andrés del Río, descubrimiento del Eritronio (Vanadio)''. Mexico City: Cultura, 1948. 44 p. * Prieto, Carlos et al. ''Andrés Manuel del Río y su obra científica: Segundo centenario de su natalicio, 1764-1964''. México: Compañía Fundidora de Fierro y Acero de Monterrey, 1966. 81 p. * Ramírez, Santiago E. ''Biografía del sr. D. Andrés Manuel del Río: Primer catedrático de mineralogía del Colegio de Minería''. México: Imp. del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, 1891. 56 p. * Ramírez, Santiago. ''Ensayos biográficos de Joaquín Velásquez de León y Andrés Manuel del Río''. México: UNAM, Facultad de Ingeniería, Sociedad de ex-alumnos, 1983. * Rojo, Onofre. ''La prioridad en los descubrimientos y su relación con la infraestructura científica''. Avance y Perspectiva 20: 107-111 (1997). . A short biography of Andrés Manuel del Río is found in "Oxford Dictionary of Scientists" by Oxford University Press, 1999.

External links

( ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091022141556/http://geocities.com/smexmineralogia/historia.htm Archived2009-10-25)
Portada del Manual de Orictognosia

Palacio de Mineria en la Ciudad de México

Andrés Manuel del Río. Polymath Virtual Library, Fundación Ignacio Larramendi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rio, Andres Manuel Del 1764 births 1849 deaths 18th-century Spanish chemists Spanish naturalists Mexican chemists Members of the French Academy of Sciences Colonial Mexico Mexican people of Spanish descent Discoverers of chemical elements People from Madrid 19th-century Spanish chemists Vanadium