Arthur Smithells, CMG FRS (24 May 1860 – 24 February 1939) was a British chemist.

Early life and education

Smithells was born in

Bury, Lancashire Bury (, ) is a market town on the River Irwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. which had a population of 81,101 in 2021 while the wider borough had a population of 193,846. The town was originally part of the ...

on 24 May 1860. His father James Smithells was a railway manager. He was educated at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and then spent time under Roscoe and Schorlemmer at

Owens College Owens may refer to: Places in the United States * Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota * Owens, Missouri * Owens, Ohio * Owens, Texas * Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. He gained his BSc from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, then took supplemental courses in Munich and with

Robert Bunsen Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (; 30 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bu ...

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

Academic career

In 1883 Smithells was appointed assistant lecturer at Owens College and on 8 January 1884 was elected to membership of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. Two years later he succeeded Professor Sir Edward Thorpe as professor of chemistry at the Yorkshire College,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, which became the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

in 1904. Smithells went on to be pro-vice-chancellor at Leeds, a post he held until he retired from his chair as

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

professor in 1923. During his career Smithells was honorary educational adviser on home science and household economics to

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

(appointed 1907), president of the Society of British Gas Industries (1911). In 1923 he became director of the Salters’ Institute of Industrial Chemistry, a role that involved assessing applications for grants; he remained a director until 1937. His research was predominantly focused on flames, the process of burning and flame spectroscopy

Honours

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Smithells was an adviser to the Northern Command, becoming Lieutenant-Colonel-Chief Chemical Adviser (Anti-gas Training) (1916-1919), for which in 1918 he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG). As well as being a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(elected 1901, becoming vice-president in 1916), he was also a Fellow of the

Institute of Chemistry An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

(elected 1887) serving on the Council and holding the posts of Vice-president from 1915-1917, 1923-1926 and 1930-1933 and President (1927-1930), and was made an Honorary Fellow of the Society for Analytical Chemistry (elected 1927).

Family

His son, Philip Ashton Smithells, was a physical educationalist and university professor at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

in New Zealand.

Death

Smithells died on 24 February 1939, aged 78.

References

External links

* * http://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/167050 {{DEFAULTSORT:Smithells, Arthur 1860 births 1939 deaths People from Bury, Greater Manchester British chemists Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Fellows of the Royal Society British Army personnel of World War I Academics of the University of Leeds