who discovered antimony

Antimony has been known since ancient times, primarily in compound form such as stibnite (antimony sulfide), which was used as a cosmetic (kohl) in ancient Egypt around 3100 BC. The metal itself was first described in the West by Vannoccio Biringuccio in 1540. However, the first scientific studies on antimony and its compounds were conducted by the French chemist Nicolas Lémery, who published his findings in 1707. The first discovery of naturally occurring pure antimony in the Earth's crust was described by the Swedish scientist Anton von Swab in 1783. Thus, the discovery of antimony as a metal and element is not attributed to a single person but evolved through history with contributions by various figures, including Biringuccio, Lémery, and Anton von Swab.