Claude François Geoffroy (1729 – 18 June 1753) was a French chemist. In 1753 he proved the chemical element bismuth to be distinct from lead, becoming the official discoverer of the element. Before this time, bismuth-containing minerals were frequently misidentified as either lead, tin, or antimony ores. His observations on the matter were published in the Mémoires de l’académie française in 1753.[1][2]
He became a master apothecary in 1748, and in 1752 he was admitted to the Académie des sciences as a supernumerary adjoint chemist. He died on 18 June 1753, (age 23 or 24).[3]
He is known as Claude Geoffroy the Younger to distinguish him from his father Claude Joseph Geoffroy (1685–1752), also a French chemist and apothecary, member of the Académie des sciences.
References
- ^ Elementymology & Elements Multidict bismuth bismuth, History & Etymology
- ^ Google Books The Encyclopædia Britannica: The New Volumes
- ^ Centenaire de l'Ecole supérieure de pharmacie de l'université de Paris: 1803 by Léon Guignard