Franz Benedikt Hermann (geologist)

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Franz Benedikt Hermann ( Russian Иван Филиппович Герман (Ivan Filippovich German) * 14. March 1755 in Mariahof at Sankt Lambrecht , † January 19 jul. / 31 January  1815 greg. In Saint Petersburg ) was an Austrian mining and smelting Expert in Russian services.

Life

Hermann was the son of a farmer from Styria . He went to school in St. Egidi near Murau and stood out for his talent. He began training as a salt works clerk in the Aussee salt works and in 1772 became a clerk (rent office clerk) in the service of Prince Joseph zu Schwarzenbergin Murau. In addition, he continued his education through self-study and at times (in addition to his job) attending the University of Graz, in particular in mineralogy and metallurgy, to which he also had professional contact through the ironworks and mines of his employer. In 1777 he became chief accountant for the prince in Vienna, where he also attended other lectures in natural and administrative sciences. He had resigned his position with Prince Schwarzenberg because he felt that he was being ignored. In 1781 he went on a study trip to Germany and Hungary, which he paid for out of his own pocket, and then gave lectures on technology at the University of Vienna, where he was acquainted with influential personalities. A planned work on the ironworks of Prince von Schwarzenberg fell because there was fear of industrial espionage, which was a victim of censorship, which persuaded Hermann to go into Russian service after another study trip that took him via Poland to Russia. He became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg and entered the service of Tsarina Catherine II , for whom he traveled (including 1783, 1785–1787, 1790) to the Urals and Siberia to inspect mines, To conduct geological and mineralogical studies and to set up iron and steel works (Pyschminsk near Yekaterinburg ). After several illnesses, he asked for discharge and in 1796 became professor of mineralogy in Saint Petersburg at the Academy of Sciences. In 1798 he became a member of the Reichsbergkollegium and in 1799 inspector of the imperial mining school in Saint Petersburg and councilor. In 1801 he became a state councilor and chief miner, which corresponded to the rank of major general and earned him the title of excellence . He became the commander of the Mining Authority in Yekaterinburg, with more than 10,000 miners. In 1806 he became a member of the Mountain Consistory of the Ministry of Finance.

In 1803 he founded the first printing press in Siberia in Yekaterinburg, where he also published his own works on mining in Russia. Many of his books were also published in German and gave Western Europe an insight into the mountain system and conditions in Russia.

Honors and memberships

In 1797 he was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina . In addition to the academy in Saint Petersburg, he was a member of the academies in Stockholm, Berlin, Munich and the scientific societies in Copenhagen, Göttingen and Prague. He was a member of the natural research societies in Berlin and Moscow.

Fonts

Travels through Austria, Steyermark, Carinthia, Krain, Italy, Tyrol, Salzburg, and Baiern (1781)
  • with Hubert Franz Hoefer : Mr. Hubert Franz Höfers, director of the grand ducal court pharmacy in Florence, and member of the Academy of Sciences in Siena, and of the botanical societies in Florence, news of the natural sedative salts discovered in Tuscany, and of the borax that is made from them becomes; Translated from Italian by BF Hermann. Vienna 1781 digitized
  • Travels through Austria, Steyermark, Carinthia, Krain, Tyrol .. , Vienna 1781, 1783
  • Outline of the physical structure of the Austrian states , 1783
  • On the best method of smelting iron , 1784
  • Contributions to physics, economics, mineralogy etc. , 1786 to 1788
  • Contributions to physics, economics, mineralogy and statistics of the Russian and neighboring countries , Berlin 1786
  • Attempt of a mineralogical description of the Ural Ore Mountains in 1789
  • Natural history of copper , Saint Petersburg 1790
  • Statistical description of Russia (population, state affinities, mining, trade) , Leipzig 1790
  • Mineralogical journeys in Siberia from 1783 to 1796 , Saint Petersburg, 3 parts, 1797–1801

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Benedikt Franz Hermann  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member entry of Benedict Franz Johann Hermann at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on November 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 111.
personal data
SURNAME Hermann, Franz Benedikt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Герман, Иван Филиппович (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian mining and smelting specialist in Russian service
DATE OF BIRTH March 14, 1755
PLACE OF BIRTH Mariahof near Sankt Lambrecht
DATE OF DEATH January 31, 1815
Place of death St. Petersburg