Moissan, Henri
Moissan, Henri
Born Sept. 28, 1852, in Paris; died there Feb. 20, 1907. French chemist; member of the Paris Academy of Sciences (1891). Professor at the Paris School of Pharmacy (1887–1900) and the University of Paris (beginning in 1900).
Moissan was the first to obtain fluorine in free form (1886) and to study the properties of fluorine and its compounds. He built an electric-arc furnace, in which he produced carbides of calcium (1892), potassium and sodium (1894), and other elements. Moissan used the electrothermal method to produce molybdenum (1895), tungsten (1897), and other metals. These achievements promoted the development of electrometallurgy and electrothermics. Moissan became a foreign corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg in 1904 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1906.