Johan Gadolin (June 5, 1760 — August 15, 1852) was a Finnish chemist, physicist and mineralogist. Gadolin discovered the element yttrium. He was also the actual founder of Finnish chemistry research.
Early life
Johan Gadolin was born in Turku, Finland. He began to study mathematics at the Academy of Åbo when he was fifteen. Soon he found mathematics too laborious and changed his major to chemistry. In 1779 Gadolin moved to Uppsala University where he was taught by Torbern Bergman.
Chemistry
Gadolin became famous when he discovered the first rare earth element. In 1792 Gadolin received a sample of black, heavy mineral found in a Swedish village Ytterby near Stockholm. By careful experiments, he isolated a rare earth oxide which was later named yttria . Yttria, or yttrium oxide, was the first known rare earth metal compound — at that time, it was regarded as an element.
The mineral that Gadolin examined was named gadolinite in 1800. The oxide of the element gadolinium, gadolinia , was named after Gadolin by its founders.
Gadolin became the professor of chemistry at the Academy of Åbo in 1797. He was one of the first chemists who gave laboratory exercises to students. He even let the students to use his private laboratory. Gadolin wrote the first anti-phlogiston chemistry textbook in the Nordic countries.
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