Johann Philipp Neumann (27 December 1774 – 3 October 1849) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n physicist, librarian and poet. Born in

Trebitsch Trebitsch is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Abraham Trebitsch (c. 1760–?), Austrian scholar *Arthur Trebitsch (1880–1927) Austrian writer and racial theorist *Gyula Trebitsch (1914–2005), German film producer *Ignaz Treb ...

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

, he completed his studies at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

. In 1803, he was appointed as a professor of physics at his local

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...

. He was transferred to the

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The unive ...

in 1806, where he became a

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

in 1811. In 1815, he was appointed as a professor at the Polytechnic Institute in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(now the

Vienna University of Technology TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...

). He founded a library here in 1816, which he directed until 1845. Neumann was a friend of the composer

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

. Neumann adapted

Georg Forster Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (, 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold F ...

's translation of ''

Shakuntala Shakuntala (Sanskrit: ''Śakuntalā'') is the wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata. Her story is told in the '' Adi Parva'' of the ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata'' and dramatized by many writers, the most famous adaption bein ...

'' as a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

for an opera, which Schubert commenced in 1820 but never competed. Neumann, a liberal-minded churchman, was interested in simple music designed to appeal to "the widest possible congregation". To this end, he wrote the text of 8 hymns and a translation of the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

, and commissioned the ''

Deutsche Messe ''Deutsche Messe'' ("German Mass"; full title: , "German Mass and Order of Worship") was published by Martin Luther in 1526. It followed his work ''Formula missae'' from the year 1523, pertaining to the celebration of a Latin mass. Both of these ...

'' from his friend in 1826. He retired in 1844, and died in Vienna in 1849.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann 1774 births 1849 deaths Franz Schubert 19th-century Austrian physicists Austrian male poets Academic staff of the University of Graz People from Třebíč Austrian people of Moravian-German descent Moravian-German people Academic staff of TU Wien