Gustav Engeström

Gustaf von Engeström (1 August 1738 – 12 August 1813) was a Swedish mineralogist, chemist, and an official on the Swedish Board of Mines. He was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Biography Gustaf von Engeström was born in Lund. He was the son of Bishop of Lund and linguist and Margareta , and was knighted along with his siblings for their father's achievements in 1751 with the name . Of six brothers, Gustaf and his youngest brother made careers in the mining industry.

He studied in Lund, graduating in law in 1755. Engeström was enrolled in 1756 as an auskultant – an unpaid civil servant allowed to take part in the agency's negotiations – at the Swedish Board of Mines. He studied chemistry and mineralogy under , Henrik Teofilus Scheffer, Georg Brandt and Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, learning from the latter the practicalities of mining, and undertook study trips to Norway (1760) and England, the Dutch Republic, and Prussia (1764). In England, he trained in chemistry, including in William Lewis' laboratory, and continued the translation of Cronstedt's mineralogy book into English. In London, he published a dissertation in English in 1770, "The use of the blowpipe in mineralogy". He became known for his description of the use of the blowpipe (which came from Cronstedt) in the analysis of minerals, originating from lectures during his stay in London in 1765 and which was subsequently translated into Swedish as . Von Engeström published papers on mineralogy and chemistry (including the recovery of mercury from mirror glass, recovery of silver from silver chloride by reaction with potassium carbonate, alum production, and minerals from China). Between 1781 and 1784 he published the first part of a larger work, , and a French guide to Swedish mines. He compiled mineral collections for the Prince of Condé in France and for Catherine the Great in Russia.

He worked at the Board of Mines from 1764, first as an analyst in ore. He was promoted to supervisor of the mint in 1768, became an assessor in 1774, and in 1781 became a bergsråd (mining councilor).

Family Von Engeström was married to Abela Charlotta Lagerbring and Ulrika.

He died in Vrå, Uppsala County, in 1813.