<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Scientific career </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Fields </Th> <Td> Chemistry </Td> </Tr> <P> Carl Wilhelm Scheele (German: (ˈʃeːlə), Swedish: (2ɧeːlɛ); 9 December 1742--21 May 1786) was a Swedish Pomeranian and German pharmaceutical chemist . Isaac Asimov called him "hard - luck Scheele" because he made a number of chemical discoveries before others who are generally given the credit . For example, Scheele discovered oxygen (although Joseph Priestley published his findings first), and identified molybdenum, tungsten, barium, hydrogen, and chlorine before Humphry Davy, among others . Scheele discovered organic acids tartaric, oxalic, uric, lactic, and citric, as well as hydrofluoric, hydrocyanic, and arsenic acids . He preferred speaking German to Swedish his whole life, as German was commonly spoken among Swedish pharmacists . </P> <P> Scheele was born in Stralsund, in western Pomerania, which at the time was a Swedish Dominion inside the Holy Roman Empire . Scheele's father Joachim (or Johann) Christian Scheele, was a grain dealer and brewer from a respected German family . His mother was Margaretha Eleanore Warnekros . </P>

Chemist who contributed towards the discovery of oxygen