Gottfried Christoph Beireis

Gottfried Christoph Beireis (2 March 1730 – 18 September 1809) was a German chemist and doctor. He was also a collector of curiosities who rescued some of Jacques de Vaucanson's automata.[1]

Gottfried Christoph Beireis
Gottfried Christoph Beireis
Born(1730-03-02)2 March 1730
Free imperial city of Mühlhausen, Holy Roman Empire
Died18 September 1809(1809-09-18) (aged 79)
Helmstedt, Kingdom of Westphalia
NationalityGerman
Alma materUniversity of Helmstedt
Known forProduction of cinnabar red dye
Scientific career
FieldsPhysicist, chemist, and physician
InstitutionsUniversity of Helmstedt
Doctoral advisorLorenz Heister
Other academic advisorsGeorg Erhardt Hamberger
Doctoral studentsChristian Heinrich Bünger

Biography

Beireis was born in Mühlhausen. He taught anatomy, medicine, surgery, chemistry, botany, natural history, pharmacy, mineralogy, metallurgy, agriculture, forestry, music, painting, and numismatics.

As a student, he discovered a way to convert ammonium sulfide to cinnabar and made a fortune selling the latter as a red dye.

Beireis was a student of Georg Erhardt Hamberger's in Jena in 1753. Beireis became a professor in 1759 without having obtained his MD degree; the degree was awarded subsequently for work done at Helmstadt under Lorenz Heister between 1756 and 1759.

He died in Helmstedt.

References
  1. Guardian Book review of "Living Dolls"


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