A phosphor having a high emission luminance and a vacuum ultra-violet radiation excited light emitting element in which the phosphor is used are provided. The phosphor may be made of Ba, Gd, Y, B, O, and an activator (one or more selected from the group consisting of Ce, and Tb). The phosphor may be expressed by a composition formula of BaGd1-a-bYaLnbB9O16 where Ln represents at least one selected from the group consisting of Ce, and Tb, and a and b satisfy 0.05≦a≦1 and 0.003≦b≦0.5, respectively. The foregoing phosphors are suitably used in a vacuum ultra-violet radiation excited light emitting element. The vacuum ultra-violet radiation excited light emitting element may comprise any one of the foregoing phosphors.