Svante August Arrhenius
Arrhenius, Svante August (1859-1927), a Swedish chemist and physicist. In 1903 he received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his theory of electrolytic dissociation. According to this theory, in a dilute solution a certain proportion of the molecules of electrolytes (acids, bases, and salts) break up, or dissociate, into electrically charged particles (ions).
Arrhenius was born near Uppsala, and studied at the university there. In 1895 he became professor of physical chemistry at the University of Stockholm. He directed the Nobel Institute for Physical Chemistry from 1905 until his death.