Michael Sendivogius

Michael Sendivogius
Born(1566-02-02)2 February 1566
Died1636(1636-00-00) (aged 69–70)
NationalityPolish
Other namesSędziwój, Sędzimir
Alma materUniversity of Vienna, University of Altdorf, University of Leipzig, University of Cambridge
Occupation(s)Alchemist, philosopher, writer, and medical doctor
Known forThe concept of central nitre

Michael Sendivogius (/ˌsɛndɪˈviəs/; Polish: Michał Sędziwój; 2 February 1566 – 1636) was a Polish alchemist, philosopher, and medical doctor. A pioneer of chemistry, he developed ways of purification and creation of various acids, metals and other chemical compounds. He discovered that air is not a single substance and contains a life-giving substance—later called oxygen—170 years before Scheele's discovery of the element. He correctly identified this "food of life" with the gas (also oxygen) given off by heating nitre (saltpetre).[1] This substance, the "central nitre", had a central position in Sendivogius' schema of the universe.[2]

  1. ^ "MICHAEL SENDIVOGIUS, ROSICRUCIAN, and FATHER OF STUDIES OF OXYGEN"
  2. ^ Allen G. Debus, Chemistry and Medical Debate: Van Helmont to Boerhaave, Science History Publication, 2001, p. 13 n. 19.