Ferdinand Joseph Schmidt (also as Ferdinand Jožef Schmidt or Ferdinand Jožef Šmit) (20 February 1791,

Sopron Sopron (; german: Ödenburg, ; sl, Šopron) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a ...

– 16 February 1878,

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

businessman, naturalist and explorer who was among the pioneers of bio

speleology Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). ...

, the study of cave fauna. Schmidt was the son of a tobacco manufacturer. He was born in Sopron (Hungary) and worked briefly in Vienna and later in

Laibach Laibach () is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with the industrial, martial, and neo-classical genres. Formed in the mining town of Trbovlje (at the time in Yugoslavia) in 1980, Laibach represents the musical wing of the Neue Slo ...

(present day Ljubljana, Slovenia). In Vienna he worked for Count Herberstein and then became a businessman in 1809. He served in the

coalition wars The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, sometimes called the Great French War, were a series of conflicts between the French and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars agains ...

and left as a non-commissioned officer in 1812 to work in Weißbrunn. In 1815 he went on a business trip to Ljubljana where he was offered a manager position, which he took up. He started his own business in October 1819 selling dyes and seeds. The business grew, helped by the

Congress of Laibach The Congress of Laibach was a conference of the allied sovereigns or their representatives, held in 1821 as part of the Congress System (the forerunner of the Concert of Europe) which was the decided attempt of the five Great Powers to settle inte ...

in 1821, and he soon acquired real estate and began to study the flora and fauna of

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region sti ...

. Schmidt explored the mountains and limestone caves of the region and described the beetle ''

Leptodirus hochenwartii ''Leptodirus'' is a cave beetle in the family Leiodidae. The genus contains only the single species ''Leptodirus hochenwartii''. It is a true troglobite, endemic to Slovenian, Croatian and, partly, Italian caves. Biology and ecology ''Leptodi ...

'' discovered by Franz Graf von Hohenwart in the caves of

Postojna Postojna (; german: Adelsberg, it, Postumia) is a town in the traditional region of Inner Carniola, from Trieste, in southwestern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Postojna.

. He also helped identify routes for the

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

to Laibach railway lines. He tried to grow various fruits and trees in the karst region and at the same time started collecting insects. He also contributed to collections of the State Museum of Carniola which was founded in 1821 by the Count of Hohenwart. Schmidt was a member of numerous scholarly societies including the , the

Senckenberg Nature Research Society The Senckenberg Nature Research Society (german: link=no, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, until 2008 ''Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft'') is a German scholarly society with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. Overview ...

, the and the Wetterau Society for Natural History in Hanau am Main. He also served as a trustee of the Laibach Sparkasse Association and was a member of the Ukrainian Provincial and Trade Commission. The Imperial Chamber of Commerce in Vienna, by decree of October 20, 1839, recognized him for his services to trade in Ljubljana. In 1867 he was made an honorary citizen of the city of Ljubljana and in 1869 he received the Golden Civil Cross of Merit with Crown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Ferdinand Joseph 1791 births 1878 deaths People from Sopron Austrian entomologists Speleologists