István Hatvani (21 November 1718 – 1786) was a Hungarian polyhistor,

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, natural

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

. Born in

Rimavská Sobota Rimavská Sobota (; , ) is a town in southern Slovakia, in the Banská Bystrica Region, on the Rimava river. It has approximately 24,000 inhabitants. The town is a historical capital of Gömör és Kishont County (from 1850 to 1922). Geography ...

(then Rimaszombat), he studied at the Debrecen Reformed Theological University before setting off on his scholarly travels to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

and

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

, where he acquired doctorates in theology and medicine and studied under luminaries such as

Johann Bernoulli Johann Bernoulli (also known as Jean in French or John in English; – 1 January 1748) was a Swiss people, Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He is known for his contributions to infin ...

and

Daniel Bernoulli Daniel Bernoulli ( ; ; – 27 March 1782) was a Swiss people, Swiss-France, French mathematician and physicist and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family from Basel. He is particularly remembered for his applicati ...

. Returning to

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

in 1749, he was appointed professor of mathematics, philosophy and experimental physics, introducing a rigorous Newtonian, experiment-based approach in place of the predominant Wolffian logic‑deductive method. His expansive teaching repertoire ranged from theology and

ontology Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and early

probability theory Probability theory or probability calculus is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expre ...

, making him the first Hungarian to apply the

law of large numbers In probability theory, the law of large numbers is a mathematical law that states that the average of the results obtained from a large number of independent random samples converges to the true value, if it exists. More formally, the law o ...

in mortality statistics and laying foundations for political arithmetic and proto‑economics in Hungary.

Early life and education

Hatvani began his studies at the partikuláris of the Debreceni Kollégium, attending from age 6 at the Helvetic Latin school in Rimaszombat, a preparatory division of the Sárospatak College. He advanced to its higher classes by age 23 after overcoming initial entry barriers and surviving the plague outbreak that struck Debrecen in 1739, which claimed nearly 9 000 lives and delayed college admissions by three years. In 1746 he travelled to

on scholarship, enrolling simultaneously in theology and medicine. By 1747 he had earned his licentiate and

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

, and in March 1748 he successfully defended a doctoral thesis in medicine, ''De aestimatione morborum cum facie'', on diagnosing disease from facial features. During this period he also studied mathematics under

Johann Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Graciou ...

and

, and subsequently deepened his knowledge of physics and mathematics at

and

before declining academic posts abroad to serve the

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

and nation.

Academic career

Returning to Debrecen in December 1748, Hatvani took up his professorship on 17 January 1749 with a celebrated inauguration lecture, , outlining the indispensability of mathematics to theology and physics. He championed the empirical, experimental method of Newton over Christian Wolff's purely

deductive Deductive reasoning is the process of drawing valid inferences. An inference is valid if its conclusion follows logically from its premises, meaning that it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false. For example, th ...

framework—an innovation unique in contemporary Europe, where even

Euler Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...

refrained from contesting Wolff's philosophical authority. His major work, (1757), emphasized the necessity of quantitative analysis across all sciences, dedicating a substantial chapter, "De probabilitate", to

. In physics, he taught chemistry, botany, physiology, hydrostatics, mechanics, astronomy and the nascent science of electricity, integrating these disciplines within a unifying geometric and experimental philosophy.

Personal life and legacy

A devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, Hatvani prefixed all his works—and even his medical prescriptions—to students with the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

letters

alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

and

omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

, symbolising the unity of his faith and scholarship. He married Csatári Mária in 1749, fathering ten children, of whom four survived to adulthood. Beyond lecturing and research, he organised a student hospital and oversaw pharmaceutical care in

and

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

county. In November 2018, to mark his

tercentenary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

(three-hundredth anniversary), the Debrecen Reformed Theological University held a conference, exhibition and live demonstrations of physical and chemical experiments in his honour, reflecting his enduring reputation as a pioneering experimentalist. Hatvani's encyclopaedic breadth earned him lasting respect: his methodologies influenced generations of Hungarian scholars, and his memory was celebrated in verse by Arany János and Jókai Mór. He died in Debrecen in 1786, his

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

‑inscribed tombstone—beginning with Alpha and Omega—still displayed in the

Oratorium An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishabl ...

of the Reformed College.

References

External links

Biography at University of St Andrews, Scotland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatvani, Istvan 1718 births 1786 deaths 18th-century Hungarian mathematicians Probability theorists Istvan