Cerium was discovered by Jacob Berzelius and Wilhelm von Hisinger in Sweden, and independently in the same year by Martin Klaproth in Germany. Atomic number 58, its discovery dates back to 1803.
Berzelius and Hisinger discovered cerium from a rare reddish-brown mineral known as cerite. The scientist duo prepared cerium salts from cerite and investigated its chemical reactions. They were not successful in isolating the pure metal, but they found that cerium had two oxidation states. They discovered that one state yields colourless salts and the other yields yellow-red ones. They named the new element cerium after the asteroid Ceres.
Klaproth also analyzed the mineral, and indicated that it contains the oxide of a new element, which he named ockroite. But Berzelius and Hisinger had published their results before Klaproth, and the name cerium was accepted rather than ockroite.
India and Brazil have large deposits of cerium. It is a component of mischmetal, which is used in the manufacture of alloys for cigarette lighters. Cerium oxide is used in incandescent gas mantles as a glass polishing agent.
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