Andres Manuel del Rio

Andres Manuel del Rio was a Spanish-Mexican chemist and mineralogist who discovered compounds of vanadium in 1801. He proposed that the element be given the name panchromium, or later, erythronium, but his discovery was not credited at the time, and his names were not used. He studied analytical chemistry and metallurgy in Spain, where he was born, and later in France, Germany, Hungary, and England. He was a colleague of Antoine Lavoisier, the founder of modern chemistry, and Abbé René Just Haüy, the founder of crystallography. He moved to Mexico in 1794 to teach mineralogy at the College of Mines. He opened the first course in mineralogy ever presented in New Spain and wrote the first textbook of mineralogy in America. He also made important studies of minerals and developed innovative methods in mining. He was a friend of Alexander von Humboldt and a respected member of the scientific community. He died in 1849 in Mexico City. He is regarded as the founder of the mechanical precursor to the electronic book and the leader of the educational innovation movement in Mexico.