Josef Franz Natterer
Josef Franz Natterer (born May 28, 1819 in Vienna , † December 17, 1862 in Khartoum , Sudan ) was an Austrian physician, photo pioneer and explorer .
Life
Like his brother Johann August Natterer (1821–1900), Natterer earned his doctorate in medicine . As students, the brothers had successfully improved the technique of the daguerreotype in 1840/41 . Using a mixture of bromine , iodine and chlorine , they increased the sensitivity of the silver plates to such an extent that they could produce photos in less than a second using a portrait lens manufactured by Petzval . This was the first time in the history of photography that snapshots were taken.
Through his father Joseph he found a job as curator at the imperial natural history cabinet .
In 1855 Theodor von Heuglin presented his extensive collection in Vienna. Natterer then gave up his position and accompanied Heuglin to Africa. In the autumn of 1856 the two sailed up the Nile to Dongola , crossed the Bayuda steppe and reached Khartoum on December 6th .
Nine months later, the sick August von Genczik (1810–1864) temporarily transferred the business of the Austrian diplomatic mission in Sudan to him. In the next few years he was also in charge of the official affairs of the French Vice Consulate and the English Cultivation Mission in Abyssinia . In 1858 he briefly returned to Vienna with rare monkeys and birds, four lions, two cheetahs, an antelope and two wild asses for the imperial menagerie in Schönbrunn . From January 1859 he was again consulate administrator in Khartoum. In 1858 he was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina .
Friend of the French slave trader Alphonse de Malzac , who died in 1860 and who had operated a station in Rumbek , he sent a report to Alexandria in which he described the European traders on the White Nile as robbers, murderers and slave traders. With this he made enemies and after two attacks he left for Egypt, where he reported to the viceroy. Awarded by the Sultan in Constantinople, he returned to Khartoum, but did nothing more against the slave trade.
After a dispute with the new Consul General in Alexandria, Gustav Franz Freiherr Schreiner, he resigned from his post as Austrian Vice Consul in the summer of 1862. He succumbed to malaria in December .
Memberships
In 1840 Natterer was introduced by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville as member number 207 of the Société cuviérienne .
literature
- Genczik, August von (1810–1864), physician and Africa explorer. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 421.
- Société Cuvierienne: Nouveaux membres admis dans la Société curvienne . In: Revue Zoologique par La Société Cuvierienne . tape 3 , 1840, p. 288 (French, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
- On the recent improvement of the daguerreotype for portraying living people. In: Polytechnisches Journal . 80, 1841, pp. 229-232.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Filmkunst, issues 21-38 (1957), p. 41
- ↑ photography . In: Ludwig von Schorn (Ed.): Kunstblatt . Cotta, Stuttgart 1841, p. 163 ( digitized version ).
- ↑ Genczik, August von (1810-1864), physician and explorer of Africa. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 421.
- ^ Member entry by Johann Natterer at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on November 23, 2015.
- ^ Société cuviérienne, p. 288.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Natterer, Josef Franz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian physician, photo pioneer and research traveler |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 28, 1819 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 17, 1862 |
| Place of death | Khartoum , Sudan |