Kitaibel, Paul

Tellurium - the atomic number is 52 and the chemical symbol is Te. The name derives from the Latin Tellus, who was the Roman goddess of the earth . It was discovered by the Roumanian mine director Franz Joseph Muller von Reichenstein in 1782 and overlooked for sixteen years imtil it was first isolated by German chemist Martin-Heiniich Klaproth in 1798. The Hungarian chemist Paul Kitaibel independently discovered tellurium in 1789, prior to Klaproth s work but after von Reichenstein. 

According to Paul Diergart, Paul Kitaibel, professor of botany and chemistry at the University of Pest, discovered tellurium independently in 1789 and wrote a paper on it (5, 14, 15). This will be discussed in the next chapter. 

Paul Kitaibel, 1757—1817. Hungarian chemist and botanist who anticipated Klaproth in his researches on tellurium. The original discoverer of this element, however, was Miiller von Reichenstein. 

In 1789 the famous Hungarian scientist Paul Kitaibel discovered tellurium independently. He was bom on February 3, 1757, at Nagy-Marton (Mattersdorf), and attended the academy at Raab in order to prepare himself for the University of Buda. After serving under Professor J. Winterl as adjunct in chemistry and botany (5,6), he received his medical degree in 1785. 

Szathmary, Laszlo, Paul Kitaibel, the Hungarian chemist, Magyar Gyogys-... 

Schultes, Einige Blumen auf das Grab Paul Kitaibel s, Flora, 14, 149-59... 

As early as 1788, Thomas Henry prepared a bleaching liquor from lime and chlorine, and it became a common practice among bleachers to economize by substituting lime for the more expensive pearlash from wood ashes (123). In 1795 the Hungarian botanist and chemist Paul Kitaibel distilled a mixture of salt, pyrolusite, and sulfuric acid, and passed the liberated chlorine ( oxygenated acid of salt ) into limewater. He made many experiments with solid bleaching powder, and used it to bleach textiles and wax (125). 

Tellurium comes from the Latin tellus, meaning earth. In 1782, Franz Joseph Muller Freiherr von Reichenstein (1742-1825), a mine inspector in Transylvania, discovered a material that was similar to antimony. He sent it to Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1817), who in 1789 identified it as a new element and named it. Another researcher, Paul Kitaibel (1757-1817), independently identified the new element the same year. Although tellurium occasionally occurs in elemental form, it is generally found as a compound. It is used as an alloy with copper and stainless steel, in some semiconductors, and in the manufacturing of blasting caps. 

According to Tokody tellurium was discovered by the Hungarian chemist Paul Kitaibel in 1788, in a mineral wehrlite (argentiferous bismuth telluride). Kitaibel reported his results to Klaproth after Klaproth s publication a correspondence between them ensued, the letters being in the Hungarian National Museum. ... 

Paul Kitaibel (Mattersdorf, Hungary, 3 February 1757-Budapest, 13 December 1817 (or 1818) other dates are given) was professor of chemistry and botany (1802-1811), then of botany and director of the Botanic Garden in Buda Pest. He never lectured and made (at the cost of the University) extensive scientific travels in Hun> gary. He is said to have discovered solid chloride of lime, hydroferrocyanic acid, platinum black, and metallic soaps. ... 

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