Hisinger, Wilhelm

(b. Skinnskatteberg, Vastmanland, Sweden. 23 December 1766; d. Skinnskatteberg, 28 June 1852)

chemistry, mineralogy, geology, paleontology.

Hisinger’s parents were Vilhelm Hising, a wealthy ironworks proprietor, and Barbara Katarina Fabrin. After his father died he was adopted by his uncle, John Hisinger. In 1786 he enrolled at the Bergskollegium; but he soon retired to estates at Baggå Skinnskatteberg inherited from his father, where he ran the foundry and worked privately as a scientist. He was particularly familiar with the achievements of Linnaeus, Wallerius, Cronstedt, ande Bergman. Hisinger became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science (1804) and subsequently of a number of other learned societies. In 1788 he married Baroness Anna Märta Eleonora Taube.

Hisinger’s first published paper appeared anonymously in 1789. His second work, Samling till en minerografi öfver Sverige (Stockholm, 1790), also published anonymously, was later enlarged (1808) and translated into German (1819, 1826). In association with Berzelius, Hisinger discovered the element cerium (1803) and investigated the effect of electric current on salt solutions (1806), thus preparing the way for the electrochemical theories of Davy and Berzelius. These studies, along with a number of investigations of the chemistry of Swedish minerals and rocks, were published in Afhandlingar i Fysik, Kemi och Mineralogi (1806–1818). His other contributions in this field appeared in the Kungliga Svenska vetenskapsakademiens handlingar (1811–1823).

Hisinger traveled widely in Sweden and Norway and he was a keen observer of the geology of the districts he visited. His observations were laid down in Anteckningar i physik och geognosie under resor uti Sverige och Norrige (7 fascicles [Stockholm, 1818–1840]). A further outcome of his travels was a geological map of south and middle Sweden (1832) that was enlarged to include an account of Swedish rocks with a list of their localities (Stockholm, 1834). He also wrote a Handbok för mineraloger under resor i Sverige (Stockholm, 1843).

In Lethaea Svecica, seu petrificata Sveciae, iconibus et characteribus illustrata (Stockholm, 1837, 1840, 1841), Hisinger depicted the known animal and plant fossils from Swedish deposits. Like many of his other works, this book was produced at Hisinger’s own expense. His comprehensive geological, mineralogical, and paleontological collections were given to the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A short biography of Hisinger and a bibliography of his published works are in Kungliga Svenska ventenskapsa-kademiens handlingar för år 1852 (1854), pp. 385–391. A bibliography also appears in Poggendorff, I, cols. 1111–1112.

Gerhard RegnÉll