Alfred Werner (1866-1919)

French-Swiss chemist born at Mulhouse in Alsace. He studied in Zurich beginning in 1886 and also worked with Berthelot in Paris. An originator of structure theory, Werner put forth his coordination theory of valency in 1893. He introduced the concept of coordination number as well as geometrical and optical isomerism in inorganic compounds. He was appointed Professor of Chemistry at Zurich in 1895. Werner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1913 for his studies of coordination complexes and inorganic chemistry.