Hieronymus Theodor Richter (21 November 1824 – 25 September 1898) was a German chemist. In 1863, while working at the

Freiberg University of Mining and Technology The Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (abbreviation: TU Bergakademie Freiberg, TUBAF) is a public Institute of technology, university of technology with 3,471 students in the city of Freiberg, Saxony, Freiberg, Saxony, Germany. The u ...

, he co-discovered

indium Indium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol In and atomic number 49. It is a silvery-white post-transition metal and one of the softest elements. Chemically, indium is similar to gallium and thallium, and its properties are la ...

with

Ferdinand Reich Ferdinand Reich (19 February 1799 – 27 April 1882) was a German chemist who co-discovered indium in 1863 with Hieronymous Theodor Richter. Reich was born in Bernburg, Anhalt-Bernburg, Holy Roman Empire and died in Freiberg, Saxony, Freibe ...

Life

From 1843 to 1847, he studied at the Bergakademie Freiberg (with Carl Friedrich Plattner, among others) and became a member of the Corps Saxo-Borussia Freiberg. He then worked for the Freiberg Hüttenwerken, since 1853 as a metallurgist chemist. From 1875 to 1896, Theodor Richter worked as director of the Mining Academy and was the last of the Freiberg directors elected for lifetime. In 1890 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina. He died September 25, 1898, in

Freiberg, Saxony Freiberg () is a college town, university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the ...

, at the age of 73.

Honours

In 1865, the mineral Richterite was named in honour of Hieronymous Theodor Richter.

Literatures

*C. Schiffner: From the Life of Old Freiberg Mining Students. E. Maukisch, Freiberg, 1935, pp. 46–48. *125 Years of Indium: Lectures from the Colloquium on November 24, 1988, on the Occasion of the 125th Anniversary of the Discovery of Indium by Freiberg Professors F. Reich and Th. Richter. Freiberg: Bergakademie, 1989. *Winfried Pötsch et al., Lexicon of Significant Chemists, Harri Deutsch, 1989.

Publications

*Preliminary note about a new metal. – In: Journal for practical chemistry. 89 (1863), p. 441–442. *About the indium. – In: Journal for practical chemistry. 90 (1863), p. 172–176 *About the indium. – In: Journal for practical chemistry. 92 (1864), p. 480–485 *Probirkunst mit dem Lötrohr (1865)

References

19th-century German chemists 1824 births 1898 deaths Discoverers of chemical elements Academic staff of the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology Indium Scientists from Dresden {{Germany-chemist-stub