Swedish chemist

In a large part, credit for unraveling the complex nature of the rare Earth elements goes to Carl Gustaf Mosander. Mosander was born in Kalmar, Sweden, on September 10, 1797. He was educated as a physician and pharmacist and served as an army surgeon for many years.

Mossander's most important professional association was with the eminent Swedish chemist J. J. Berzelius. Mosander lived with Professor and Mrs. Berzelius for many years and worked as Berzelius' assistant at the Stockholm Academy of Sciences. Eventually, Mosander became curator of minerals at the Academy and, in 1832, succeeded Berzelius as Permanent Secretary of the Academy. Mosander was also Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy at the Caroline Institute for many years.

Mosander became interested in the rare Earth elements in the late 1830s. Fifty years earlier, a Swedish army officer, Carl Axel Arrhenius, had discovered a new...