Sobrero, Ascanio

SUBJECT AREA: Chemical technology, Weapons and armour

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b. 12 October 1812 Cassale, Monteferrato, Italy

d. 26 May 1888 Turin, Italy

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Italian chemist, inventor of nitroglycerine.

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Sobrero initially studied medicine, qualifying as both a physician and surgeon, and then went on to study chemistry in Turin, Paris and Giessen. In 1847 he created nitroglycerine by slowly adding glycerine to a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids. The explosive injured both him and a number of others in the laboratory, and he was so horrified by its power and its potential effect on warfare that he refused to exploit his discovery; its introduction into general use thus had to wait for Immanuel and Alfred Nobel. In 1849 Sobrero was appointed Professor of Applied Chemistry at the Technical Institute, Turin, and he later became Professor of Pure Chemistry as well. He retired in 1882.

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Bibliography

He was the author of numerous scientific papers reflecting his wide-ranging interests in chemistry.

CM