Karl Khristoforovich Friedrich Knorre; russian: Карл Христофорович Кнорре (28 March 1801 – 29 August 1883) was a Russian astronomer of Baltic German ethnic origin who is best known for founding the Nikolayev Astronomical Observatory in 1827.Homepage of the Nikolaev Astronomical Observatory http://www.nao.nikolaev.ua/index.php?catalog_id=368 Knorre's father,

Ernst Friedrich Knorre Ernst Christoph Friedrich Knorre (11 December 1759 – 1 December 1810) was a German-born astronomer who lived and worked in present-day Estonia as a founding professor of mathematics at the Universität Dorpat and chief ''observator'' for the D ...

, and his son, Viktor Knorre, were also prominent astronomers. Recently NASA named an asteroid in honor of the three generations of Knorre astronomers.

Life and work

Knorre was born in Dorpat, Russian Empire in present-day Estonia, the son of

, a German-born astronomer, and his wife Sophie (née Senff). Although Knorre's father died in 1801 when he was just 9 years old, the elder scientist's career as a professor of mathematics at the

Universität Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

where he was also chief ''Observator'' for the Dorpat observatory, had already made a strong impression on the young boy who applied himself enthusiastically to the study of math and science. He gave private lessons in mathematics and Latin to other pupils of his school and even to adults, earning enough money to help his impoverished mother to pay for his education. The family had taken refuge with Knorre's uncle,

Karl August Senff Karl August Senff (12 March 1770 – ) was a Baltic German painter, engraver and teacher. He is best known for his etchings of famous German and Baltic German military figures in service to the Imperial Russian Army. He served as professor of ...

, a professor of painting at the university and with his help, Knorre was able to enter into a course of study there at the age of 15. Knorre was determined to continue in his father's footsteps as an astronomer, taking up the bulk of his unfinished work, but Senff felt that the clergy was a more secure means of self-support for a poor orphan, and urged him to study theology. Although he dutifully entered into the divinity program, Knorre still managed to attend several astronomy lectures and became devoted to the subject, largely educating himself in the ensuing years. He eventually availed himself to the new head of the observatory,

Wilhelm Struve Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve (russian: link=no, Василий Яковлевич Струве, trans. ''Vasily Yakovlevich Struve''; 15 April 1793 – ) was a Baltic German astronomer and geodesist from the famous Struve family. He is best ...

, who agreed to accept Knorre as an assistant. Under Struve's tutelage, Knorre had the opportunity to acquire a decisive experience in

geodesy Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

and had earned such esteem by the age of nineteen that Struve recommended him to Admiral Aleksey Greig who was looking for "a young and intelligent astronomer, able to help him to equip an observatory in Nikolayev on the Black Sea." The challenge for Knorre was the equipment of the observatory. He asked for a business trip to tour the other important observatories of Europe, and when Greig agreed, set off on a journey by stagecoach that was to take more than two years. In Germany, he visited Friedrich Bessel, Johann Franz Encke, and Heinrich Christian Schumacher and, in Paris, he called on

François Arago Dominique François Jean Arago ( ca, Domènec Francesc Joan Aragó), known simply as François Arago (; Catalan: ''Francesc Aragó'', ; 26 February 17862 October 1853), was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, freemason, supporter of t ...

. From there he also went to both Greenwich and Dublin, largely in pursuit of manufacturers of good chronographs. Back home he discussed with admiral Greig his impressions and ordered the equipment for the observatory. In his equipment there was a mercuric artificial horizon mirror. To exclude measurement failures it was possible to look with the telescope direct to the stars or indirect via the mercurial mirror. Knorre was member of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was married three times, first to Elisabeth of Dieterichs (m. 1829) who died just three years later, next to her younger sister Dorothea von Dieterichs (m. 1833) who died at the age of 37 after giving birth to 13 children, and lastly to Emilie Gavel (m. 1852) who survived him in death. Knorre had fifteen children who survived infancy, of which the best known was his fifth son, the astronomer Viktor Knorre. He moved to Berlin in 1862 to study astronomy. Knorre retired 1871 from the Directorship of the Observatory in Nikolajew and moved to Berlin to be with his son Viktor. He died there in 1883.

References

External links

Nikolaev Observatory (in Russian)

"Asteroid named after the three generations of Knorre Astronomers"

List of Knorre´s printed works, by Royal Astronomical Society (11 Bücher)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knorre, Karl Friedrich 1801 births 1883 deaths Astronomers from the Russian Empire Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences People from Tartu Baltic-German people