Hans Christian Ørsted

Hans Christian Ørsted
Born(1777-08-14)14 August 1777
Died9 March 1851(1851-03-09) (aged 73)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Resting placeAssistens Cemetery, Copenhagen
MonumentsThe Physicist Hans Christian Ørsted, Copenhagen
Alma materUniversity of Copenhagen (PhD)
EraDanish Golden Age
Known for
RelativesAnders Sandøe Ørsted (brother)
Awards
Honors Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts (1842)
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsUniversity of Copenhagen
(1806–1851)
Thesis The Architectonics of Natural Metaphysics  (1799)
Signature

Hans Christian Ørsted (Danish: [ˈɶɐ̯steð] ; 14 August 1777 – 9 March 1851), sometimes transliterated as Oersted (/ˈɜːstɛd/ UR-sted), was a Danish chemist and physicist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields. This phenomenon is known as Oersted's law. He also discovered aluminium, a chemical element.

A leader of the Danish Golden Age, Ørsted was a close friend of Hans Christian Andersen and the brother of politician and jurist Anders Sandøe Ørsted, who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1853 to 1854.