Heinrich Foullon von Norbeeck

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Heinrich Foullon von Norbeeck (born July 12, 1850 in Gaaden , † August 10, 1896 on the island of Guadalcanal ) was an Austrian geologist and researcher.

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Heinrich Foullon von Norbeeck studied geology at the Bergakademie Schemnitz , at the Bergakademie Příbram , and in 1879 and 1880 at the University of Vienna . He acquired practical knowledge in silver mining in Slovakia and in an ironworks in southern Styria .

From 1878 he was employed in the Imperial and Royal Geological Institute . At first only a volunteer, he worked his way up to an adjunct. Through excursions to numerous mining areas around the world and the associated specialist publications, he gained fame as a chemist and petrograph .

In 1892 he moved to the kuk finance ministry, where he was appointed coal and steel secretary or miner of the state government for Bosnia and Herzegovina .

But he continued to undertake his scientific trips. To finance this, he cooperated with entrepreneurs. One of these was Arthur Krupp . He was particularly interested in nickel deposits , which he needed for his steel production , and commissioned Foullon to search for the ore. The search in both North America and the South Pacific was not very successful. However, there were indications in the findings of the Solomon Islands to be more successful there. A first attempt in the interior of the island of Guadalcanal had to be canceled. Neither the Treasury Department nor he himself wanted to try again. However, Krupp convinced the War Ministry, which had also been financially involved in the expeditions earlier, to make another attempt.

Foullon left the Ministry of Finance and returned to the Imperial Geological Institute. Recognizing the dangers of his mission, he took out insurance to protect his wife Adele and their three children.

On August 5, 1896, the SM gunboat Albatros reached the island of Guadalcanal with Foullon under the command of Corvette Captain Josef Mauler von Elisenau. The official mandate for the island, which is in the British sphere of influence, was only to create natural history, ethnographic and anthropological collections for the Imperial and Royal court museums. The real reason for the search for nickel was only known to Foullon and the captain.

While crossing the island, the group was attacked by locals. Foullon was shot and died, as did other participants. Because the mission was kept secret, only very slowly made it public, some of which were reproduced in a distorted manner. It was only known that the dead could not be buried due to the rocky subsoil. At the place Tetere, from where the expedition set out on the island, a memorial cross was erected five years later, which should still stand today.

A memorial plaque was unveiled in the Geological Institute of the University of Vienna in 1898. In 1910, an English researcher found bones on the island that could be assigned by name to those killed in Vienna. In August 1911 they were buried in the Naval Parish Church of Madonna del mare in Pula .

A large part of his mineral collection is now in the Natural History Museum in Vienna.

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personal data
SURNAME Foullon from Norbeeck, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian geologist
DATE OF BIRTH July 12, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Gaaden
DATE OF DEATH August 10, 1896
Place of death Guadalcanal