Per Teodor Cleve

Per Teodor Cleve
Per Teodor Cleve, c. 1880–1890
Born	10 February 1840 , Sweden
Died	18 June 1905(1905-06-18) (aged 65) Uppsala, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Fields	Chemistry, geology
Alma mater	Stockholm Gymnasium (1858) Uppsala University (1863)
Known for	Discovery of holmium and thulium
Notable awards	Davy Medal (1894)

Per Teodor Cleve (10 February 1840 – 18 June 1905) was a Swedish chemist, biologist, mineralogist, oceanographer, and professor. He discovered the chemical elements holmium and thulium and helped isolate helium from the uranium ore cleveite. Cleve was born in Stockholm and became an assistant professor at the Uppsala University in 1860. He died several months after contracting pleurisy in 1904.

Cleve was born in , Sweden, as the thirteenth child of his father, a merchant known as F. T. Cleve. Cleve's ancestors on his father's side came from western Germany and settled in Sweden in the late 18th century.

Cleve showed interest in natural science and natural history from an early age. He attended the Stockholm Gymnasium in 1858, studying chemistry and biology. He gained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Uppsala in 1863 and a PhD from the same university in 1868.

In 1860, aged 20, Cleve became assistant professor of mineralogy at the University of Uppsala, and was appointed assistant professor of chemistry in 1868. He also taught at the Royal Institute of Technology between 1870 and 1874, and eventually became professor of general and agricultural chemistry at the University of Uppsala. He was the chair of chemistry at the University of Uppsala starting in 1874. He was also the president of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

Cleve's first work was Några ammoniakaliska chromföreningar (Some compounds of ammonia and chromium, 1861). He also wrote several more papers on complex compounds, including the compounds of platinum. Additionally, Cleve synthesized several hundred complex platinum compounds.