 Sympathetic towards Chabaneau 's state of poverty , the director of a Jesuit college in Passy offered him a position as a mathematics professor , despite Chabaneau having only a basic understanding of arithmetic . In studying the material for the next day 's lessons , Chabaneau taught himself algebra and geometry . His academic interest soon spread to physics , natural history , and chemistry . At the age of twenty , Chabaneau was convinced to join the newly established Real Seminario <unk> at Vergara to teach French and physics by brothers Fausto and Juan José Elhuyar . The two brothers , who later made a name for themselves by isolating metallic tungsten , had been hired by the Count of <unk> , who had sent them to France to find professors for the Vergara Seminary . 
