Anders Gustaf Ekeberg

1767–1813.

Chemist.

Anders Gustaf Ekeberg was the son of the ship builder Joseph Eric Ekeberg and Hedvig Ulrica Kilberg.

In 1784 Ekeberg was enrolled at Uppsala University, where he was taught by Carl Peter Thunberg. After graduation and study trips, Ekeberg became associate Professor in chemistry in 1794.

In 1799 Ekeberg was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1802 he discovered the element tantalum (Ta).

An explosion accident in the beginning of the 1800's led to Ekeberg becoming blind in one eye.

One of the scientific discoveries that Ekeberg made was a method for producing a strong, clear and translucent porcelain. The secret behind the method, he took with him to the grave.

The friends carved his name on a stone pillar in the cemetery wall and three words in Latin: Chemico (he was a chemist) Amicitia (friendship) Memor (memory) and the death year with Roman letters MDCCCXIII. Photo: Henrik Zetterberg.

The picture shows the Ekeberg Prize awarded by the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center. Photo: TIC.

In recognition of Ekeberg's pioneering work, the TIC (Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center) institued an award in 2017 to promote knowledge and understanding of tantal. The award was called the Anders Gustaf Ekeberg tantalum Prize ("Ekeberg prize") in his memory.

 

Burial site: 0101-0030

Image description: Portrait of Anders Gustaf Ekeberg from Mellin, Gustaf Henrik (eds) 427 porträtter af namnkunniga svenske män och fruntimmer, Stockholm, 1847. Photo: LIBRIS-ID: 1579474. [The image is cropped]
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Henrik Gahn

1820–1874.

Chemist, industrialist, inventor.

Henrik Gahn underwent the Falun Mountain School in 1841–1842 and was a pupil at the Jernkontoret 1842–1848. He later became director of a lead and silver work in Boda (Rättvik) and devoted himself to forest shops, agriculture and chemical experiments.

In 1867 Gahn started a chemical-technical plant at the main square in Uppsala with ink, shiny black and the by Gahn invented disinfectant Aseptin as products. Gahn inventions had a large part in the company's success.

The company had many other chemical-technical products and was known for its soap assortment. The factory was from 1899 in the Gudrun Quarter, at Kålsängsgränd 4 in Uppsala.

The company survived after Gahn's death under the name Henrik Gahn AB in other premises and in 1964, the company was bought up by the Barnängen company which closed down the factory in 1968.

Packaging of soaps in the factory, Uppsala 1917. Photo: Uppsala University Library.

Factory staff, Uppsala 1917. Photo: Uppsala University Library.

Burial site: 0140-1608

Image description: Henrik Gahn, 1870's. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUB. [The image is cropped]
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Svante Arrhenius

1859–1927.

Physicist, chemist.

Svante Arrhenius was born at Wiks Castle outside Uppsala where his father was a trustee.

He was one of the foremost natural scientists of his time and received the first Swedish Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1903 for his efforts regarding the electrolytic Dissociation theory from 1887. It changed all the chemists perceptions of acids, bases and salts.

From the mid-1890s, Arrhenius's interest was extended to geophysics and cosmic physics. He regarded himself as a physicist, but his main findings mainly concerned chemistry.

From 1905, Arrhenius was the director of the Nobel Institute for Physical Chemistry (Academy) in the same year.

Also as a popular science writer, Arrhenius was internationally known among other things through the release of the development of the Worlds (1906), Man in the face of the World Riddle (1907), Smallpox and their suppression (1930), The Fates of the Stars (1915) and The chemistry and Modern Life (1919).

 

Burial site: 0152-0062

Image description: Svante Arrhenius, unknown year. Photo: Unknown photographer / Technical museum. [The image is cropped]
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