Henrik Teofilus Scheffer (December 28, 1710 – August 10, 1759) was a Swedish

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 ...

notable for his contribution to the discovery of

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

. He was the son of (secretary of the Swedish Board of Mines) and Gustafviana Sofia Ehrenstierna and was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Scheffer was raised by his uncle after his parents died. Scheffer was the grandson of scholar Johannes Schefferus and cousin of Counts Carl Fredrik and . Scheffer studied at Uppsala University from 1725 to 1731, studying mathematics under

Anders Celsius Anders Celsius (; 27 November 170125 April 1744) was a Swedes, Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories ...

. He then began work at the Swedish Board of Mines as an ' – an unpaid civil servant allowed to take part in the agency's negotiations – and studied under Georg Brandt. While working there, chemist

Gustaf von Engeström Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

was one of his students. Scheffer became director of the Ädelfors gold mine in 1739 and began working as an assayer () in 1752. In 1747 he was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () 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 responsibility for promoting nat ...

, and in 1756 he was made a Swedish nobleman. In addition to valuable essays in the journal ' of the Academy of Sciences, Scheffer is notable for his 1752 survey of platinum, which at that time was proven to be a previously unknown

noble metal A noble metal is ordinarily regarded as a metallic chemical element, element that is generally resistant to corrosion and is usually found in nature in its native element, raw form. Gold, platinum, and the other platinum group metals (ruthenium ...

, and the method of separating gold from silver by means of sulfuric acid. His ''Chemical Lectures''Henrik Teofilus Scheffer, Torbern Bergman,"Chemical lectures of H. T. Scheffer". Translation of: ''Chemiske föreläsningar, rörande salter, jordarter, vatten, fetmor, metaller och färgning''. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992. (published by Torbern Bergman 1775, third edition 1796) was of considerable importance for the study of chemistry in Sweden. Scheffer married Ulrika Maria Clerck in 1737. He died in Stockholm in 1759.

Literature

{{Authority control 1710 births 1759 deaths Scientists from Stockholm 18th-century Swedish chemists 18th-century Swedish nobility Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences