Jakob Christian Heusser

Jakob Christian Heusser (born March 28, 1826 in Hirzel in the canton of Zurich ; † April 21, 1909 in Buenos Aires ) was a Swiss crystallographer , mineralogist and geologist .

Life

Jakob Christian Heusser was born on March 28, 1826 as the son of the doctor Johann Jakob Heusser and the poet Meta Heusser-Schweizer in Hirzel. Heusser first studied medicine at the University of Zurich , then natural sciences at the (later) Humboldt University in Berlin , where he received his doctorate in 1851 . He then worked in the private laboratory of the Berlin physicist and chemist Heinrich Gustav Magnus with crystal-optical studies, which he continued in 1852 with Franz Ernst Neumann at the University of Königsberg . In 1853 he was appointed private lecturer for mineralogy at the University of Zurich. In 1856, Heusser undertook an inspection trip to Brazil on behalf of the cantons of Zurich, Graubünden , Bern , Unterwalden , Glarus and Aargau to review the complaints of Swiss tenants on plantations near São Paulo . His critical report to the Zurich government led to a discussion about Swiss emigration practices. From 1859 he lived in Buenos Aires, where he worked as a geologist, surveyor and landowner. Heusser wrote numerous articles on the geology and mineralogy of Brazil, Argentina and Switzerland as well as on emigration.

Jakob Christian Heusser, who married Anna, née Smith, in 1871, died on April 21, 1909 in Buenos Aires. He was the older brother of Johanna Spyri .

Heusser had been friends with the poet Gottfried Keller since 1851 . In the first chapter of the novella cycle Das Sinngedicht , Keller describes the Berlin work environment of his friend in the Magnus House .

archive

• Johanna Spyri Foundation in Zurich, letters.

literature

• Georges Claraz : Memories of Dr. Christian Heusser 1826–1909. In: Quarterly publication of the Natural Research Society in Zurich. Vol. 72 (1927), pp. 372–395 (with catalog raisonné ).
• Jeroen Dewulf: Brazil with breaks. Swiss under the Southern Cross. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2007. ISBN 978-3-03823-349-7
• Barbara Helbling: Heusser, Jakob Christian. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland ., 2006.
• Barbara Helbling: Jakob Christian Heusser (1826–1909): Letters to the family. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2011.
• Meta Heusser-Schweizer : House Chronicle (= Kilchberger Drucke. Vol. 8). Edited by Karl Fehr. Publisher Mirio Romano, Kilchberg 1980.
• Rainer Würgau: “The crystallographer in Gottfried Keller's epic poem . Christian Heusser as a model for the natural scientist Reinhart ”. In: Monthly Issues for German-Language Literature and Culture , Vol. 107 (2015) No. 2, pp. 179–200.

Web links

• Overview of the courses held by Jakob Christian Heusser at the University of Zurich (summer semester 1854 to winter semester 1856)