text: Lecoq de Boisbaudran discovered samarium in 1879 after first isolating samarium oxide. He identified the presence of a new element by using spectroscopy to observe its characteristic sharp optical absorption lines.
  He named his new element "samarium" after the mineral samarskite from which it was isolated. The mineral itself was earlier named for a Russian mine official, Colonel Vassili Samarsky-Bykhovets.