Joseph Christian Hamel

Joseph Christian Hamel

Joseph Christian Hamel (* January 30 jul./ February 10 greg. 1788 in Sarepta ; † 22. September 1862 in London ) was a German-born physician , naturalist and technologist in the Russian service (Council of State, a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences St. Petersburg). He is best known for his transfer-oriented studies of technical and economic innovations, which he got to know on his extensive research and study trips to Europe and the USA. In addition, he dealt with topics from general natural research, cultural history and school and educational policy. Joseph Hamel was unmarried and has no descendants.

Childhood, school, apprenticeship

Joseph Christian was born as the third child of Johann Christian Friedrich Hamel (1741-1819) and his wife Maria Magdalena Witt in Sarepta in the Russian governorate of Astrakhan. Sarepta was a settlement of the Moravian Brethren founded in 1765 (today part of Volgograd).

Hamel's father arrived in Sarepta in September 1766 from the Moravian Brethren Community in Neudietendorf (Gotha district) with the 51-strong “First Reinforcement Column”, spent a long time as a missionary with the Kalmyks , worked as a hosiery merchant and worked in the Baptismal register from 1788 listed for the first time as "Platzaufseher" (local police officer).

After attending the boys 'school (1794–1800) housed in the Brothers' House in Sarepta, Joseph Hamel completed a five-year apprenticeship to “learn the skills of pharmacists” in the local pharmacy in Sarepta. During his apprenticeship, he also acquired a basic medical knowledge in the doctor's practice, which was institutionally connected to the pharmacy. In addition, the pharmacy had a chemical laboratory, in which the young Hamel was able to gain his first experience in applied chemistry and was sustainably motivated for this discipline.

Academic study

Due to Hamel's extraordinary abilities, the Brethren decided to enable him to study medicine at the renowned Medico-Surgical Academy in St. Petersburg, which he began in 1807. His favorite subject was "applied chemistry". As a student, he invented an inexpensive "electrical machine" (friction electrifying machine) and was awarded a gold watch for it. Because of his excellent academic achievements, he was made a corresponding member of the " Imperial Free Economic Society of St. Petersburg " in 1809 and a full member in 1811. On June 20, 1811, he completed his studies with the diploma of a doctor 1st class (Medicus-Chirurgus). He received a gold medal for his excellent exam results.

Professional background

After the exam, Hamel received the position of a research assistant at the Medico-Surgical Academy. His first assignment was to repeat and evaluate the experiments on galvanic-chemical analysis carried out by the English chemist Humphry Davy (1778–1829). In this context, he succeeded in developing a new method for extracting potassium carbonate (potash). In March 1812 he was sent on a "secret mission" to Podolia to investigate a rumor that the alcohol that was on the market should contain life-threatening substances. During the Napoleonic War, from September 1812 to January 1813, he helped in a military hospital in St. Petersburg with medical care for war wounded and sick.

On April 13, 1813 he received his doctorate in medical surgery (Dr. med. Chir.). In his dissertation “De bracheriorum constructione” he presented a new and medically successfully tested concept for the production of an elastic inguinal hernia ligament as well as a new method for healing fractures.

After his doctorate, the 24-year-old Hamel was hired as a college assessor at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Minister Osip P. Kozodavlev) and sent on an information and study trip to other European countries in September 1813. His job was to find out about new developments in applied natural science and technology and to check their usefulness for Russia. The destinations of this eight-year trip are in England, Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

In December 1821 Hamel received the imperial order from the Minister of the Interior to investigate the situation of the factories and factories in the Governments of Räsan, Tula, Orel, Voronezh and Tambov and to make proposals for their modernization. Hamel was particularly concerned with the traditional imperial arms factory in Tula.

On March 4th (a. St.) 1829, at the age of 41, Hamel was admitted to the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg as a “full academic for technology and applied chemistry”. His preferred field of research was galvanochemistry with its fields of application of wired electrical telegraphy and photography. He went on six information and study trips, mainly to England, Scotland, Ireland, France and the USA. Hamel spent around half of his 50 years of service abroad. He died during a visit to the Great London Exhibition in 1862 and was buried in West Norwood Cemetery in London.

Scientific achievements

The focus of Hamel's scientific activity was the investigation of technological and economic innovations (abroad and in Germany) for the purpose of promoting trade. In addition, he dealt with topics from “purposeless” natural research and cultural history as well as education policy oriented towards schools and trade promotion.

Hamel's technological-economic studies refer primarily to the new developments in mining technology (mine safety lamp, drainage technology), drive and transport technology (steam engine, locomotive, railroad), printing technology (offset process), textile industry (flax preparation, dyeing) that were characteristic of the 19th century ), Agriculture and fish farming (wool gauges, marine aquaculture) and communications technology (wired electrical telegraphy). With his research carried out in England and France on the first attempts at photography technology (Joseph Nicèphore Niépce, William Henry Fox Talbot, Louis Daguerre) and the sending of the relevant materials and photographs to St. Petersburg, he made an impetus for the development of Russian photography.

A prominent feature of Hamel's technological-economic treatises are the detailed descriptions (partly with technical drawings) of the innovations he analyzed. Examples: the diving bell from John Rennie, the safety miner 's lamp from Humphry Davy , the wool measuring device (eriometer) from Skiadan, the production, machine and work analyzes from the Imperial Arms Factory in Tula and the teaching technology of the Bell-Lancaster system .

In many cases, Hamel had tried out the innovations he was investigating in specific application situations or in experiments and also made suggestions for improving and developing them. Characteristic for Hamel is the careful determination and analysis of the historical development context and often also the uncovering of the copyright-relevant background of the innovations examined by him.

His attempt in 1810 to climb the Montblanc and, in addition to an exact determination of the altitude, to carry out a large number of physical, optical, chemical and physiological experiments caused a considerable sensation. Shortly before reaching the summit, the group was caught in a snow avalanche, which killed three mountain guides.

Hamel's work on general natural research and cultural history deals with topics from physics, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, altimetry (height measurement), paleo-ornithology, paleo-ichthyology, paleobotany and physiology. His natural history work includes, above all, his extensive studies of the dodo (dronte). The Armenian cochineal was given the botanical name "Porphyrophora hamelii" due to its merits in researching the cochineal (scale insect). Among his cultural-historical treatises, his publications on the oldest trade relations between England and Russia in the 16th and 17th centuries met with great interest.

With his documentation and expert evaluation of the English Bell-Lancaster system ("mutual teaching") published in 1818, Hamel made a school and educational policy contribution that was also recognized by German educators (Natorp, Niemeyer, Riecke, Harnisch, etc.) and contributed to the development of the Russian Lancaster School Movement contributed. On the basis of his proposals for the necessity and improvement of technological and economic education in Russia (1828) the first Russian trade exhibition was organized, a polytechnic museum was set up in Moscow and the first polytechnic institute was opened in St. Petersburg.

Personal contacts (Connections)

During his professional career, Hamel had established and maintained a large number of contacts with personalities from science, politics and society, which he not only used for his research and exploration, but which were also useful in his career. For example, he was in personal and often friendly contact with people such as Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg , Gustav Rose , Alexander von Humboldt , Humphry Davy , William Allen (Quaker) , David Brewster , George Stephenson , John Franklin , William Henry Fox Talbot , Friedrich Benjamin von Lütke , Karl Ernst von Baer , Johann Friedrich von Brandt , Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg , Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi , Jean Baptiste Girard , Franz Anton von Gerstner and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe .

His private relationships with Nicholas I and the Tsar's family were particularly beneficial to his career. The personal relationship arose when Nicholas, at the age of twenty, traveled to England and Scotland as Grand Duke from December 1816 to March 1817 and was looked after and advised by Hamel. Hamel had also accompanied the 20-year-old Grand Duke Michael (brother of Nikolaus) on his trip to England (July – September 1818) as the official tour guide.

Official title

Joseph Christian Hamel received the title of College Assessor in 1813, was appointed Councilor in 1817, was Councilor from 1823 and Real Councilor of State from 1838.

Awards

• Diamond ring of Grand Duke Nikolaus Pavlovich, who later became Tsar Nicholas I (1817)
• Diamond ring of the Empress Maria Feodorovna (1818)
• Diamond ring of Grand Duke Michael Pawlowitsch (1818)
• Order of St. Anne, 2nd Class (1818)
• Diamond ring of the French King Louis XVIII. (1819)
• Diamond ring of the Saxon King Friedrich August I (1819)
• Order of St. Anne 2nd class in diamonds (1826)
• Order of Vladimir 4th Class (1827)
• Order of Vladimir 3rd Class (1836)
• Order of Stanislaus 1st Class (1848)
• Order of St. Anne 1st Class (1861)

Fonts (selection)

• On the diving bell . As a Means for Curing Deafness. In: The Philosophical Magazine and Journal: Comprehending the various Branches of Science, the Liberal Arts and Fine Arts, Geology, Agriculture, Manufactures and Commerce. Vol. XLVIII. July-December 1816. P. 22-24.
• Experiments with Sir H. Davy's Safe-Lamp. In: The Philosophical Magazine and Journal: Comprehending the various Branches of Science, the Liberal Arts and Fine Arts, Geology, Agriculture, Manufactures and Commerce. Vol. XLVIII. July-December 1816. P. 36-37.
• Mutual instruction; History of its introduction and expansion by Dr. A. Bell, J. Lancaster, and others; Detailed description of its use in the English and French elementary schools, as well as in some higher educational institutions. Paris 1818. Further editions in French (1818), Italian (1819) and Russian (1820).
• Description of two journeys to Mont Blanc, undertaken in August 1820. Specially reprinted from the conversation sheet. With a view of Mont Blanc and a map of the Chamouny Valley and its surroundings. Vienna 1821.
• Description of the Tula weapons factory from a historical and technological point of view . With plans and illustrations of weapons and vehicles on 42 sheets. Moscow 1826. [Russian]. New editions in 1845, 1847 and 1853, in 1988 an English edition of the work was published in New Delhi.
• Description of an eriometer, or instrument to measure the fineness of wool, according to the invention of Mr. Skiadan . Moscow 1828 (Russian).
• Extrait du Discours sur la Nécessité de Repandre en Russie les Connaissances Technologiques . In: Recueil des Actes de la Séance Publique de L'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Petersbourg. Tenue le 29 December 1829. St. Petersburg 1830. p. 188-197.
• About cochineal on Ararat and about root cochineal in general. (Read May 4, 1833). In: Memoirs de L'Académie Imperiale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg. III. St. Petersbourg 1835. pp. 9-68 u. 2 fig. St. Petersburg 1835, p. 9-64.
• About Daguerre's heliography and impressions from his heliographed plates. From a letter from the academician Hamel to the permanent secretary. In: Bulletin Scientifique Publié par L'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg. VI. No. 20. 21 (January 1840). St. Petersburg 1840. Col. 317–336.
• About Dinornis and Didus, two extinct bird species. In: Bulletin de la Classe physico-mathématique de l'Académie imperiale des sciences de Saint Petersbourg. IV. No 4. 5. (1845). Pp. 49-68.
• The dodo, the hermit, and the fictional Nazar bird. In: Bulletin de la Classe physico-mathématique de l'Académie imperiale des sciences de Saint Petersbourg. VII, No. 5, 6. (1846). Pp. 67-95.
• Colossal magneto-electric machines for silver and gold plating. (Lu le 25 Sept. 1846). In: Bulletin de la Classe Physico-Mathématique de l'Académie Imperiale des Sciences de Saint Petersbourg. VI. No. 11/10 St. Petersbourg 1847. pp. 145-155.
• Tradescant der Aeltere 1618 in Russia, The trade between England and Russia in its creation. Review of some of the older trips up north. Historical contributions, communicated by the Kaiserl. Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg and Leipzig 1847.
• The unsuccessful attempt to create an oyster bank on the island of Rügen. In: Magazine for the customers of the spiritual and moral life in Russia. Scientific reports from the supplements of the St. Petersburg newspaper. Edited by CF Meyer. First vintage. Dept. II. St. Petersburg 1853. pp. 45–50.
• Sebastian Cabot. In: Magazine for the customers of the spiritual and moral life in Russia. Scientific reports from the supplements of the St. Petersburg newspaper. Edited by CF Meyer. Second year. St. Petersburg 1854. pp. 305-312.
• The truth about Ericsson's Caloric ship , which is not set in motion by heated air, as was intended, but is a steamship. - Review of the introduction of steam shipping in Europe. In: Magazine for the customers of the spiritual and moral life in Russia. Scientific reports from the supplements of the St. Petersburg newspaper. Edited by CF Meyer. Third year. St. Petersburg 1855. pp. 445-457, 576-606, 617-628 and 640-719.
• The performance of the machines for printing newspapers and other periodicals, introduced in England and America . St. Petersburg 1857.
• The successful electro-telegraphic connection between America and Europe. Sent in from the island of Valencia in Ireland. In: St. Petersburg newspaper. Born in 1858.
• Historical Account of the Introduction of the Galvanic and Electro-Magnetic Telegraph. In: "The Journal of the Royal Society of Arts". No. 348. Volume VII., P. 595-599 (July 22, 1859) and p. 605-610 (July 29, 1859).
• Sir John Franklin's Northwest Expedition from 1845–1848, and Charles Jackman's Northeast Expedition from 1580 and 1581 . St. Petersburg 1860.
• Bishop Watson and the Electric Telegraph. London 1861.

literature

• Imperial Academy of Sciences St. Petersburg (ed.): A short record of the life and work of J. Ch. Hamel. In: Memoirs of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Volume III, St. Petersburg 1863, pp. 189–198 (Russian).
• Kurilla, Ivan: Academician J. Chr. Hamel in the United States of America. In: Sarepta. Gazette of the Historical-Ethnographic Museum. Volume 1. In: Ministry of Culture and Mass Communication of the Russian Federation. Committee on Culture of the Volga Region, Volgograd. Cultural association, historical, ethnographic and architectural museum "Alt-Sarepta". Volgograd State University. (Ed.) Volgograd 2006, pp. 78–86 (Russian).
• Polovtsov, Alexander (Ed.): Russkij Biografícheskiĭ slovár. Volume IV: Haag – Gerbel. Moscow 1914, article: Hamel, Joseph Kristianovich. Pp. 197-199 (Russian).
• Stratenwerth, Wolfgang: One teacher and a thousand students. Joseph Hamel's documentation on “mutual teaching” (Paris 1818) . A new edition of the work commissioned by Tsar Alexander I, combined with an introduction to the Bell-Lancaster system, a detailed biography of Hamel and a systematic description of the Russian Lancaster school movement. 2nd updated, supplemented and corrected edition. Edition Winterwork, Borsdorf 2010, ISBN 978-3-96014-663-6 .
• Stratenwerth, Wolfgang: Joseph Christian Hamel 1788-1862. A German doctor, naturalist and technologist from Sarepta in Russian service. Edition Winterwork, Borsdorf 2019, ISBN 978-3-96014-651-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Herrnhut University Archives. R.12.C.30.b.
2. ↑ Hamel, Joseph: Description of two trips to Mont Blanc, undertaken in August 1820. Vienna 1821