gems, chrysoberyl, alexandrite, beryl, emerald, phenakite, Russia, Ural Mountains, Malysheva

Alexandrite was discovered in 1833 in the emerald mines of the Ural Mountains, Russia. Since then, numerous legends have been told about the discovery and naming of this first colour-change gem material. Key figures in these stories were L.A. Perovskii, vice president of the appanage department of the Russian Tsar and minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, and N.G. Nordenskiöld, superintendent of mines in Finland. Phenakite was also discovered in the Uralian emerald mines in the early 1830s, with the same two people involved. Based upon extant letters written by both individuals—Perovskii and Nordenskiöld—as well as the published literature, this article critically evaluates the facts about the discoveries and the initial descriptions of alexandrite and phenakite. Our research shows that a third individual, Y.V. Kokovin, who at that time was director of the Ekaterinburg lapidary works, actually discovered both gem materials, and soon after samples of each were distributed via Perovskii to various mineralogists for examination. The name phenakite was suggested by Nordenskiöld in late 1832 or early 1833, ignoring the local use of the already-existing name kokovinite. Nordenskiöld suggested the name alexandrite, in honour of the Russian Crown Prince, almost a decade later—in 1842—after Kokovin’s death.