Ekeberg - Weak, Strong and Versatile

Anders Gustaf Ekeberg (1767-1813) was a chemist, active at the University of Uppsala. 

In a brochure of 1795 with the title An attempt at a Swedish Nomenclature in Chemistry adapted to the latest Discoveries an outline is given of a chemistry without phlogiston, a chemistry based on Lavoiser s modern principles and experiments regarding the nature of combustion. The brochure was published anonymously as Ekeberg tried to avoid personal controversies with the head of his institution, the temperamental professor Johan Afzelius, who stuck to phlogiston and had no faith in the many new ideas [23.1], 

It was a very special task for Ekeberg to teach chemistry to BerzeHus, twelve years younger than himself. In his autobiographical notes Berzelius indicates how much he esteemed his former teacher and how much he appreciated him as a scientist. He also refers to this in the context of his participation in the priority discussions after the discoveries of niobium and tantalum. 

Ekeberg was a man of great talent, in the humanities as weU as in science. Many patriotic odes and speeches are stiU extant from his youth. He was also very well acquainted with the history and mythology of classical antiquity. This was a significant motive in his choice of tantalum as the name of the element he discovered. 

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