Courtois, Bernard

Bernard Courtois, (born Feb. 8, 1777, Dijon, Fr.—died Sept. 27, 1838, Paris), French chemist who discovered the element iodine.

Courtois served as a pharmacist in the French Army and later joined his father’s saltpetre business. In 1811 he added too much sulfuric acid to seaweed ash, a major raw material in saltpetre production, and obtained a violet vapour that condensed to form dark crystals. He prepared numerous compounds of this new element and investigated its properties. His work was announced in 1813, and the element was later named iodine.

After the Napoleonic Wars his saltpetre business failed. Although he turned to the manufacture of iodine, this business also failed, and he died in poverty.