Gottlieb Emanuel von Haller (1735–1786) was a
Bernese historian, numismatist, botanist, politician, diplomat and librarian.
Biography
He was the eldest son of polymath
Albrecht von Haller
Albrecht von Haller (also known as Albertus de Haller; 16 October 170812 December 1777) was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist, encyclopedist, bibliographer and poet. A pupil of Herman Boerhaave, he is often referred to as "the fa ...
. Born in
Berne, he studied law and history in
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
, where his father was professor for medicine and botany.
He returned to Berne in 1753. He entered public service in Berne, in 1763 as vice-librarian, 1765 as secretary of the war council, and from 1775 as member of the city council. He was a fellow of the
Academy of Sciences Leopoldina from 1778. He was sent to represent Berne in the
transmontane bailiwicks in 1779/80 and from 1785 until his death he served as
reeve
Reeve may refer to:
Titles
*Reeve (Canada), an elected chief executive of some counties, townships, and equivalents
*Reeve (England), an official elected annually by the serfs to supervise lands for a lord
*High-reeve, a title taken by some Englis ...
of
Nyon.
He married Anna Margarethe Schultheß (1734–1810) in 1761, with whom he had six sons and four daughters. One of his sons was political philosopher
Karl Ludwig von Haller
Karl Ludwig von Haller (1 August 1768 – 20 May 1854) was a Swiss jurist, statesman and political philosopher. He was the author of ''Restauration der Staatswissenschaft'' (Restoration of Political Science, 1816–1834), a book which gave its ...
.
Works
As a student, he wrote pamphlets against the
Linnean system
Linnaean taxonomy can mean either of two related concepts:
# The particular form of biological classification (taxonomy) set up by Carl Linnaeus, as set forth in his '' Systema Naturae'' (1735) and subsequent works. In the taxonomy of Linnaeus ...
of taxonomy.
During his career he authored numerous works on
bibliothecography
Library and information science(s) or studies (LIS) is an interdisciplinary field of study that deals generally with organization, access, collection, and protection/regulation of information, whether in physical (e.g. art, legal proceedings, et ...
,
numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects.
Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...
and the
history of Switzerland, writing in German, French and Latin.
His magnum opus was a ''History of Switzerland'' (''Bibliothek der Schweizer-Geschichte'') in six volumes, two volumes published during his lifetime, the remaining four, which were ready for print at the time of his death, were published posthumously by J.J. Stapfer.
*''Epistola ad patrem, dubia ex Linnaei fundamentis botanicis hausta continens'', Göttingen, 1750
*''Dubiorum contra sect. VII. Fundam. bot. Linnaei'', Göttingen, 1753
*''Specimen bibliothecae Helveticae'', Bern, 1757
*''Conseils pour former une Bibliothèque historique de la Suisse'', Bern, 1771
*''
Wilhelm Tell
William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland.
According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Alb ...
– Eine Vorlesung'', Bern, 1772
*''Schweitzerisches Münz- und Medaillenkabinett'', Bern, 1781/82
*''Bibliothek der Schweizer-Geschichte und aller Theile, so dahin Bezug haben'', Bern, 1785–1787 (doi:10.3931/e-rara-24952)
See also
*
Historiography of Switzerland
References
*Emil Blösch: "Haller, Gottlieb von", ''
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language.
It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...
'' vol. 10, (1879), 430f.
*Hans Haeberli: "Haller, Gottlieb Emanuel von", ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' vol. 7 (1966), 548f.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haller, Gottlieb Emanuel von
18th-century Swiss historians
Swiss numismatists
People from Bern
1735 births
1786 deaths