This eminent 18th-century chemist was the main figure in a strategic industrial-military espionage mission as part of a scientific development project led by the Royal Basque Society. Along with his brother, Fausto, he DISCOVERED a previously unknown chemical element: tungsten. The discovery of tungsten in the laboratories of the Royal Seminary of Bergara (1783), the institution to which the Elhuyar brothers belonged, represented a huge contribution to humanity's global heritage, and without a doubt was the most important and farthest reaching contribution made by our country within the field of science.