Heinrich Diesbach

Johann Jacob Diesbach (born around 1670 – died in 1748), was a German pigment and dye producer known for first synthesizing a blue pigment known as Prussian blue (i.e. iron blue or Berlin blue).

Biography Diesbach was born into a family from the Palatinate, and arrived in Berlin, Germany around 1701. Between 1704 and 1706, Diesbach was working as a paint manufacturer in Berlin. He was using an extract of crushed cochineal insects, iron sulphate and potash to create cochineal red lake. One batch of the product unexpectedly turned pale pink. When he tried to concentrate the mixture, it turned purple, then deep blue. He sought out the seller of the potash, Johann Konrad Dippel, an alchemist. Together, they realized that the reaction had occurred because the potash had been contaminated with bone oil.