Mineralogist and historian. Born Glauchau, Germany, March 24, 1494; died Chemnitz, November 21, 1555. He studied in the mining district of Chemnitz, where he was also Saxon historiographer, and defended Catholicism amidst a Protestant society. Pioneer in metallurgy. Discovered a method of separating silver from gold by the use of sulphuric and nitric acid. His most important work describes contemporary mining and smelting methods. He is called the "Father of Mineralogy."