Richard Wilhelm Heinrich Abegg (1869 – 1910) was a German chemist[1] and pioneer of valence theory. Because of his research he proposed that the difference of the maximum positive and negative valence of an element tends to be eight. This has become to be called Abegg's rule. He was a gas balloon enthusiast, which caused his death at the age of 41 when he crashed in his balloon Schlesien. From 1901, Abegg was active with an electrochemistry journal as editor. The Prussian secretary of state Wilhelm Abegg was his brother. Recently featured: Marie Curie – Karl Ferdinand Braun – Jean-Baptiste Biot