# William Ramsay

_Scottish chemist (1852–1916)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/william-ramsay
Last updated: 2026-10-07

> Sir William Ramsay was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" along with his collaborator, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics that same year for their discovery of argon. After the two men identified argon, Ramsay investigated other atmospheric gases. His work in isolating argon, helium, neon, krypton, and xenon led to the development of a new section of the periodic table.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 2 October 1852 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q950726#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Glasgow ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q950726#P19))
- **Died:** 23 July 1916 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q950726#P570))
- **Place of death:** High Wycombe ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q950726#P20))
- **Citizenship:** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q950726#P27))
- **Occupation:** chemist; professor; historian; archaeologist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q950726#P106))
- **Education:** University of Tübingen; University of Glasgow; The Glasgow Academy; University of Tübingen ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q950726#P69))
- **Spouse:** Margaret Johnstone Marshall ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q950726#P26))
- **Awards:** Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order; Fellow of the Royal Society; Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath; Leconte Prize; Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Elliott Cresson Medal; Matteucci Medal; honorary doctor of the Jagiellonian University of Krakow; August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal; Davy Medal; Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; Pour le Mérite; Longstaff Prize; Barnard Medal for Meritorious Service to Science; honorary member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q950726#P166))

## Questions

**When was William Ramsay born?**  
William Ramsay was born on 2 October 1852 in Glasgow.

**Where did William Ramsay study?**  
William Ramsay was educated at University of Tübingen, University of Glasgow, The Glasgow Academy, University of Tübingen.

## Related

- [Ada Yonath](https://diginpl.com/people/ada-yonath)
- [Adolf von Baeyer](https://diginpl.com/people/adolf-von-baeyer)
- [Ahmed Zewail](https://diginpl.com/people/ahmed-zewail)
- [Aziz Sancar](https://diginpl.com/people/aziz-sancar)
- [Eduard Buchner](https://diginpl.com/people/eduard-buchner)
- [Emil Fischer](https://diginpl.com/people/emil-fischer)
- [Emmanuelle Charpentier](https://diginpl.com/people/emmanuelle-charpentier)
- [Frances Arnold](https://diginpl.com/people/frances-arnold)
- [Francis William Aston](https://diginpl.com/people/francis-william-aston)
- [Frederick Sanger](https://diginpl.com/people/frederick-sanger)
- [Frederick Soddy](https://diginpl.com/people/frederick-soddy)
- [Fritz Haber](https://diginpl.com/people/fritz-haber)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): William Ramsay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ramsay) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q950726](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q950726) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: William Ramsay.jpg by Elliott & Fry (Public domain)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Ramsay.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article William Ramsay, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: William Ramsay.jpg — Elliott & Fry, Public domain.

## Cite this page

"William Ramsay". DigiNepal. Last updated 7 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/william-ramsay. Retrieved 4 November 2026.