A scientist from Slovenia named Baron Sigmund Zois von Edelstein first realized that it was a mineral that was unknown at that time, so the stone was named after him. The stone originally called saualpite, named after the place in which it was found, the Saualpe Mountains, in the early 1800s, had a name change to become zoisite. Some gemstones are named after the person who discovered them. The Greek word for blue is kyanos, and kyanite is a beautiful blue gemstone. Malachite is a bright green gemstone with lighter green bands running through it. In the Greek language, a bright green herb, mallow, gave its name to malachite. For instance, rhodolite is derived from the Greek word for "rose." Rhodolite is a pink gemstone. There are many gemstones named after Latin or Greek root words. Gemstones are often named after words from other languages. Andalusia is the original location where the andalusite was found, so the stone was named after that area in Spain. Tanzanite was first discovered in Tanzania, and out of the Tsavo National Park came the tsavorite, found by Campbell Bridges, a gemologist in the later part of the 1960s. There is a region in Canada that is called Labrador, and the labradorite is named after it. For instance, topaz was named after a tiny island in the Red Sea that was called Topazos. Many gemstones are named after locations. Some are historical, some are descriptive, while others get their names from the places where they are first discovered. Gemstones get their names from many different places. Now, whenever I see or wear a jewelry piece with alexandrite in it, I think about the history behind the stone and the man as well. Then I did another project on him and what kind of person he was. In college, I did a paper on the alexandrite and how it was named after the Russian Tzar Alexander II. Morgan, is on display in the British National History Museum. I love to learn the history behind my favorite gemstones and to read about their origins. PICTURE: Photo by Paul Hudson (Flickr) Caption: This gorgeous cut morganite, a stone that's named after financier and gem collector J.P.
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