Swedish chemist · 1787–1845
Nils Gabriel Sefström
Nils Gabriel Sefström gave vanadium its name in 1830, after finding it in iron from a Swedish mine.
How Vanadium was found
Sefström noticed that iron from the Taberg mine in Småland was unusually soft. Dissolving it in acid, he found a residue containing a new element, which he isolated with help from Berzelius.
Because its compounds were so beautifully coloured, he named it after Vanadís, another name for Freyja, the Norse goddess of beauty. Friedrich Wöhler then showed it was the same element Andrés Manuel del Río had found in Mexico in 1801.
Shared the credit
The discovery is credited jointly to these scientists.
Life and career
Born 1787 · Died 1845
Sefström was born in Hälsingland, trained as a physician and studied chemistry under Berzelius. He taught chemistry at the military academy and later at the School of Mines in Falun, where he did his vanadium work.
Discovered in the same era
Other elements identified within ten years of 1801.