Hippolyte-Victor Collet-Descotils

Infobox_Scientist
name = Hippolyte-Victor Collet-Descotils


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caption = Hippolyte-Victor Collet-Descotils
birth_date = birth date|1771|11|21
birth_place = Caen, France
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death_date = death date and age|1815|12|6|1771|11|21
death_place = Paris, France
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alma_mater = École des Mines de Paris
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Hippolyte-Victor Collet-Descotils was a French chemist, born November 21, 1773 in Caen, and died December 6, 1815 in Paris. He studied in the École des Mines de Paris, and was a student and friend of Louis Nicolas Vauquelin.

He is best known for confirming the discovery of chromium by Vauquelin, and for independently discovering iridium in 1803.cite journal | title= A History of Iridium | first =L. B. | last =Hunt | journal = Platinum Metals Review
volume =31 | issue = 1 | year = 1987 | pages 32–41 | url = http://www.platinummetalsreview.com/dynamic/article/view/pmr-v31-i1-032-041 | accessdate = 2008-09-15]

In 1806, Collet-Descotils misidentified erythronium, a new element discovered in Mexico by Andrés Manuel del Río, thinking that it was chromium. This resulted in Alexander von Humboldt rejecting Del Río's discovery. The same element was rediscovered thirty years later in Sweden and renamed as vanadium.

References

Persondata
NAME= Collet-Descotils, Hippolyte-Victor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= chemist
DATE OF BIRTH= birth date|1771|11|21|df=y
PLACE OF BIRTH= Caen, France
DATE OF DEATH= death date|1815|12|6|df=y
PLACE OF DEATH= Paris, France