Hans Moritz von Brühl (astronomer)

Hans Moritz Graf von Brühl
Copper engraving by Conrad Westermayr , 1799

Johann "Hans Moritz" Graf von Brühl (* 20th December 1736 in Wiederau ; † 9 June 1809 in London ) was a German (electoral Saxon) diplomat, scientist and chess players in London, where he was John Maurice, Count of Bruhl became known .

Life

He comes from the Saxon-Thuringian noble family Brühl and was the son of Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Brühl auf Martinskirchen , Wartenburg and Bedra , the older brother of the Prime Minister Heinrich von Brühl . He and his cousin Hans Moritz von Brühl bear the name Hans Moritz.

He studied in Leipzig from 1750 to 1754 , where he found a fatherly friend in the writer Christian Gellert and was friends with Johann Friedrich von Cronegk .

In 1755, at the age of 19, he took on diplomatic tasks in Paris ,

"... and there supported mainly his countrymen during the war damahligen { Seven Years War } had recourse to him. In 1759 he was appointed to Warsaw { until 1763 the elector of Saxony was also King of Poland } , where he was appointed chamberlain and governor in Thuringia. ... In 1778 the elector appointed him his real go. Council ... "

In the autumn of 1764 he became envoy to London . In 1767 he married Alicia Maria Carpenter, Countess of Egremont, later Countess Brühl (1729–1794) and in 1796 Maria Chowne. The first marriage resulted in two children. The only son Georg Graf von Brühl (1768–1855), also a well-known chess player, remained unmarried. Her daughter Henriette Countess von Brühl (1772-1853) married Sir Hugh Scott.

HM von Brühl was a popular promoter of art and science, often mentioned in the press - also a social friend of the Enlightenment .

When the Leipzig Economic Society was founded on May 26, 1764, he became one of the three honorary members - his reports and opinions on the “New Science”, the “Staats-Wirthschaft” ( economics ) were in demand.

scientist

In 1765 Brühl became a member of the Royal Society . From 1785 he was an honorary member of the Göttingen Academy and from 1793 also of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg . His contributions to the development of chronometry for the precise determination of longitude , his astronomical knowledge and the international transfer of knowledge and people were later recognized .

The following was particularly sustainable:

• the sponsorship of Franz Xaver von Zach , whom he hired in England as an educator and collaborator and with him found the Thomas Harriot manuscripts;

They came to "Germany" in 1785 and Brühl recommended the young scholar for the Gotha observatory to his chess friend, Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

• the procurement of chronometers for the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon in Dresden , which set an important starting point for the now famous Glashütte watch production
• the fruitful correspondence with "the famous rural astronomer" Johann George Palitzsch .

Chess player

"Count de Bruhl" was one of the most famous chess players of his time, along with Philidor , Verdoni and George Atwood , of whom several games have been handed down.

Publications

• Comparaison de l'impôt de France avec celui d'Angleterre. London 1766
• Research on various Objets de l'Économie Politique. Dresden 1781; German: Investigations into various objects of the state economy. Gera 1783
• Three Registers of a Pocket Chronometer. London 1785; German: Three diaries about a pocket chronometer ... in: For older literature and newer reading. Leipzig 1785, 3rd year, 5th issue, pp. 82-108
• Latitudes and Longitudes of several Places ascertained. London 1786
• Nouveau Journal du Chronomètre. London 1790
• Preface in Bergasse: Considerations on Animal Magnetism. Dresden 1790
• Appendix A short Explanation of the most proper Methods of calculating a mean Daily Rate. to T. Mudge junior: Reply to Dr. Maskelyne. 1792
• A Register of Mr. Mudge's Timekeepers. London 1794
• On the Investigation of Astronomical Circles. London 1794; translated with additions by Franz Xaver von Zach in: Carl Friedrich Hindenburg : Archive of pure and applied mathematics. 3rd issue, Leipzig 1795, pp. 257-308

Contributions from him in:

• Johann Elert Bode : Berlin Astronomical Yearbook .
• Karl Christian Canzler , August Gottlieb Meißner (ed.): For older literature and newer reading. Leipzig 1783–1785.

Translations:

• Ecole de l'officier. Paris 1770, translation by Gottlob Friedrich von Brück: Advantages of recording and drawing a situation for military use, as well as tracting and building the most useful field entrenchments. Dresden 1767

Portraits

• Painting in the Petworth House of the UK National Trust
• Portrait painting in the dining room of Schloss Gaussig in Saxony
• Copper engraving by Conrad Westermayr with description, in: Franz Xaver von Zach (Hrsg.): Allgemeine geographische Ephemeriden. Volume 4, Weimar 1799, as a frontispiece to page 81

literature

• Herbert Dittrich: Inventors and visionaries: the pioneers of precision watch production in Dresden and Glashütte. Dresden 2009, pp. 107–119
• SR Ranganathan: Centenaries. in: Current Science, December 1936, p. 329 (India, engl.)
• John Gorton: A general biographical dictionary. Volume 1, London 1833, Bruhl (John Maurice, Count de)
• Johann Samuelersch , Johann Gottfried Gruber : General encyclopedia of the sciences and arts. 13th part, Leipzig 1824, p. 204 right column
• Franz Xaver von Zach (ed.): General geographical ephemeris. Volume 4, 2nd piece, August, Weimar 1799, pp. 184-186
• The Chess Monthly: An American Chess Serial, Volume 5, January 1861, biography of Hans Moritz von Brühl , pp.1f

Web links

• Article in the Dictionary of National Biography
• Entry at "lordbyron.cath.lib.vt.edu"
• History of the Leipzig observatory with donations from HM von Brühl
• Article in Nature. 138, p. 1045 (December 19, 1936)
• "BRÜHL-HM-GRAF-V" in the project: ... literary magazines of the 18th and 19th centuries ... of the University of Bielefeld

Footnotes and individual references

1. ↑ on genealogy see European genealogical handbook. 2nd part, Leipzig 1782, p. 137  ; Brühl of Paul Theroff's Royal Genealogy Site.  ; Count Hans Moritz Brühl at thepeerage.com , accessed September 14, 2016.; Entry at GeneAll.net (accessed February 16, 2014)
2. ↑ Example of mix-up (or mixture): University collections in Germany. The information system on collections and museums at German universities ; to ancestors: Hans Moritz von Brühl * October 13, 1589 @ geneall.net (accessed February 21, 2014)
3. ↑ Christian Fürchtegott Gellert: Poems, spiritual odes and songs. Volume 2 of Gesammelte Schriften, edited by Bernd Witte, 1997, p. 89 , p. 380, Komm. 26/27 , p. 387
4. ^ Poem to Brühl in: Des Freyherrn Johann Friederich von Cronegk writings. Leipzig 1771; General German real encyclopedia for the educated classes. Volume 2, Leipzig 1830, p. 243
5. ^ Zach 1799, p. 184
6. ^ Continued new genealogical-historical news ... 47th part. Leipzig 1766, p. 854 ; Electoral Saxon Court and State Calendar. 1777, p. 96
7. ^ Letters written by the ... Earl of Chesterfield to his son. London 1800, pp. 297f  ; Painting of the wife of the National Trust; a daughter (Harriet Moritz, Lady Polwarth painting of the National Trust) and “... his only son, ... Count Georg, b. 1768, lived unmarried in England, where he died in Chingford in Essex in 1855 ... "from: Pierer's Universal Lexicon 1857 are known (accessed February 14, 2014)
8. ↑ see e.g. B. Entry at franklinpapers.org ( memento of February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) with letters to Benjamin Franklin (accessed February 14, 2014)
9. ^ William Berry, County Genealogies: Pedigrees of the Families in the County of Sussex , p.133 Here: Elisabeth
10. ↑ Zeno: Brühl [3]. Retrieved July 20, 2018 . 
11. ^ Paul Theroff: Brühl. Retrieved July 20, 2018 . 
12. ↑ as an example of his popularity: "Comte Brühl is much in fashion here", Letters written by the ... Earl of Chesterfield to his son. London 1800, p. 255
13. ↑ z. B. he wrote very submissively to the commoner Benjamin Franklin, called the peasant Palitzsch "Our friend" in letters intended for printing (e.g. For older literature and newer reading. 1784, 1st year, 3rd issue, p. 243-252 ), here also about the "experiments with spheres" ( balloon rides (Wikipedia) ) and the Chess Turks
14. ^ Leipziger Intelligence-Blatt to the year 1764. P. 220
15. ↑ on the importance of economics: Enlightenment # Economics and new faculties
16. ↑ z. B. For older literature and more recent reading. 1784, Volume 1, Volume 3, pp. 226-242 ; Georg Andreas Will : Experiment on Physiocracy. Nuremberg 1782, p. 46 ; Writing to Brühl in: Writings on State Economy and Action. Volume 3, 1784, pp. 472-482
17. ^ Entry on Bruhl; Johann Moritz (1736-1809); Count of in the Archives of the Royal Society , London
18. ^ Johann Stephan Pütter: Attempt of an academic scholarly history from the Georg Augustus University in Göttingen. Volume 2, 1788, p. 283 (20.)
19. ^ Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 1724. Johann Moritz von Brühl. Russian Academy of Sciences, accessed August 6, 2015 (in Russian). 
20. ↑ z. B. by Johann Gottfried Köhler in the Philosophical Transactions 1787 (77), p. 47 and by Wilhelm Herschel to Central Europe: Magazine for the latest in physics and natural history. Volume 6, Gotha 1789, p. 182f
21. ↑ 1785 according to: Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 118, 6, p. 315 ; 1784 according to: Project "The manuscripts of Thomas Harriot (1560–1621)" (English, accessed February 18, 2014); s. a. Bode: Astronomical Yearbook for the year 1788. Berlin 1785, S. 152ff. within ( pp. 139–156 ) of a printed letter dated November 26, 1784
22. ↑ z. B. together in the visitor book of the Mannheim observatory on November 3, 1785
23. ↑ see Peter Brosche: The Duchess' Astronomer. in: The time. 36/1982, p. 48  ; Angus Armitage: Baron von Zach and his astronomical correspondence. in: Popular Astronomy. Volume 57, 1949, from p. 328 middle  ; to "Schachfreund" DVW news. 2/2005, page n-20 top center ( memento from February 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed February 16, 2014)
24. ↑ see e.g. B. Web presence of the special exhibition Chronometers and their creators ... 2012 in the German Maritime Museum ( Memento from February 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed February 16, 2014) and Klaus Schillinger: On the history of time determination and time indication at the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon. in: Dresden history book . Volume 7 (Ed. Stadtmuseum Dresden) Altenburg 2001, p. 216
25. ↑ see advertisement of the magazine For older literature and newer reading. 1784, 3rd issue (p. 243) in: Johann Christoph Adelung : General directory of new books. 8th volume, 1st piece, Leipzig 1784, p. 288
26. ^ Archaeologia. Volume 9, London 1789, p. 14
27. ^ The chess games of John M Bruehl (accessed February 14, 2014)
28. ↑ according to z. B. Le siècle des lumières: Index des titres AK, 1761–1789 , p. 166, sometimes attributed to Heinrich von Brühl
29. ^ Johann Georg Meusel : Lexicon of the German writers who died from 1750 to 1800 , Volume 1, Leipzig 1802, p. 613

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann Georg Friedrich von Einsiedel	Saxon Ambassador to the United Kingdom 1764–1809	Carl von Friesen (from 1815)