Robert Mond was born at Farnworth, Widnes, Lancashire, the elder son of Ludwig Mond, chemist and industrialist. He collaborated with his father in the discovery of the gaseous compound nickel carbonyl. Following his father"s heritage he became a director of Brunner Mond & Company and because of a connection with nickel mines in Canada he was a trustee of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
He was educated at Cheltenham College, Peterhouse, Cambridge, Zurich Polytechnic, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow. At Glasgow he studied under William Thomson.
He perfected the industrial production of iron carbonyl, and discovered the first derivative of a metallic carbonyl (cobalt nitroso-carbonyl) and a new ruthenium carbonyl. Foreign a time he made trials of scientific farming. He then took an interest in Egyptian archaeology and worked with some of the major archaeologists of the time, including Percy Newberry, Howard Carter, Arthur Weigall and Alan Gardiner.
With the last named he worked on the Theban necropolis.
After World War I he was involved with the preservation of the tomb of Ramesses. He built up a considerable collection of artefacts which he bequeathed to the British Museum.
He also performed archaeological work in Palestine, France and the Channel Islands and assisted in the foundation of a British School of in Jerusalem. Robert Mond also took an interest in model soldiers building up a collection of 900 figures representing all the regiments in Napoleon"s army.
Mond helped convert a house in Paris into the Maison de la Chimie which supported the work of chemistry in France and he was a benefactor of the British Institute in Paris.
He also made large benefactions to the universities of Liverpool, Manchester and Toronto. He was knighted in 1932. He received numerous honours including the honorary degrees of LL.D from the universities of Liverpool and Toronto, and Doctorate.Sc from the University of London.
He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Fellow of the Royal Society.
He was elected president of the Société de Chimie.
Royal Society]
In France he became Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur and a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, thereby joining the Institut de France.
