Johann Wilhelm Fortunat Coaz (31 May 1822 – 18 August 1918) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

forester A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...

topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scie ...

and

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

from Graubünden. In 1850 he made the first ascent of

Piz Bernina Piz Bernina ( Romansh, it, Pizzo Bernina, ) is the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps, the highest point of the Bernina Range, and the highest peak in the Rhaetian Alps. It rises and is located south of Pontresina and near the major Alpine r ...

, the highest mountain in the

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in the ...

. He also gave Piz Bernina its name, after the eponymous

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places * Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits * Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...

Life

Coaz was born in Antwerp in 1822, the son of Wilhelm Johann Coaz, a professional officer, and his wife Salomé née Koehl. He died in

Chur , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers , twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxembourg), ...

in 1918.

Forestry and topography

Between 1841 and 1843 he trained at the

Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry The Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry (German: ''Königliche-Sächsische Forstakademie'') in Tharandt, Saxony, near Dresden, was founded by silviculturist Heinrich Cotta in 1811. Established in conjunction with the school, and later integrated wit ...

Tharandt Tharandt () is a municipality in Saxony, Germany, situated on the Weißeritz, 9 miles southwest of Dresden. It has a Protestant Church and the oldest academy of forestry in Germany, founded as the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry by Heinrich Cott ...

to become a

, then assumed the role of mountain topographer in Graubünden in the service of the Federal Topographic Bureau. When he was 28 he became private secretary to the topographer

Guillaume-Henri Dufour Guillaume Henri Dufour (15 September 178714 July 1875) was a Swiss military officer, structural engineer and topographer. He served under Napoleon I and held the Swiss office of General four times in his career, firstly in 1847 when he led the ...

.Reynolds, Kev
''The Swiss Alps''
Cicerone, 2012, p. 278. From 1851 to 1873 he was chief forestry inspector of the cantons of Graubünden and

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

(1873–75). In 1875 Coaz became the first Federal Chief Forestry Inspector, a position he held until 1914. Coaz was scientifically active in the areas of forest botany, topography, meteorology, and glacier and avalanche research. He described ''Larix'' X ''marschlinsii'' Coaz, noted in Krüssmann as a hybrid between '' L. kaempferi'' and ''L. russica'' that came from the Tscharnerholz Forest Nursery, near

Morat Morat may refer to: * Morat, Switzerland, or Murten, a town in Switzerland * Battle of Morat (1476), between the Swiss Federation and Charles I, Duke of Burgundy * Morat (band), a Colombian folk band * Morat, a type of mead that uses mulberries. S ...

, Switzerland in 1901 (the species is now considered a hybrid between '' L. decidua'' and ''L. kaempferi''). He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

in 1902.

Mountaineering

As a climber and surveyor he made around 30 first ascents in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

,Braham, Trevor
''When the Alps Cast Their Spell: Mountaineers of the Alpine Golden Age''
Neil Wilson Publishing Ltd, 2004. mostly in the

Bernina Range The Bernina Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland and northern Italy. It is considered to be part of the Rhaetian Alps within the Central Eastern Alps. It is one of the highest ranges of the Alps, covered with many glaciers. ...

, the

Albula Alps The Albula Alps are a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. They are considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps, more specifically the Western Rhaetian Alps. They are named after the river Albula. According to AVE (see map), t ...

, and the Upper and Lower

Engadin The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ' ...

. In 1846 he made the first ascent of

Piz Kesch Piz Kesch (German language, German) or Piz d'Es-cha (Romansh language, Rumantsch) is a peak in the Albula Alps of the Rhaetian Alps in Switzerland. At , it is the highest peak in the Albula Alps and the municipality of Bergün, Grisons. The fir ...

on 7 September, and in the same year he made the first ascent of

Piz Languard Piz Languard is a mountain of the Livigno Alps, overlooking Pontresina Pontresina ( rm, Puntraschigna) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. History and name Pontresina was first mentioned in medi ...

Piz Surlej Piz Surlej is a mountain in the Bernina Range of the Alps, overlooking Lake Silvaplana in the canton of Graubünden. It lies between the main Engadin valley and the Val Roseg, north of Piz Corvatsch Piz Corvatsch () is a mountain in the Ber ...

, Piz Aguagliols, Piz d'Esen and

Piz Lischana Piz Lischana is a mountain in the Sesvenna Range of the Alps, overlooking Scuol in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. With an elevation of 3,105 metres above sea level, Piz Lischana is the highest summit of the Sesvenna Range north of the Fuorcla ...

. In 1848 he made the first ascent of

Piz Quattervals Piz Quattervals ( Romansh lit. "peak of the four valleys") is a mountain of the Livigno Alps, located in Graubünden, Switzerland. With a height of 3,165 metres above sea level, Piz Quattervals is the highest mountain of the chain north of Pas ...

. His most significant and celebrated first ascent was of

, at 4,049 m the highest summit in the

, together with two assistants, brothers Jon and Lorenz Ragut Tscharner on 13 September 1850.Dumler, Helmut and Willi P. Burkhardt, ''The High Mountains of the Alps'', London: Diadem, 1994, p.8. Their route was via "The Labyrinth" and the east ridge. Although all three were surveyors, they left their surveying equipment at the foot of the ridge. Coaz later wrote in his diary: In 1850 he made the first recorded ascent of

Piz Corvatsch Piz Corvatsch () is a mountain in the Bernina Range of the Alps, overlooking Lake Sils and Lake Silvaplana in the Engadin region of the canton of Graubünden. With an elevation of , it is the highest point on the range separating the main Inn ...

, and of

Piz Tschierva Piz Tschierva (3,546 m) is a mountain in the Bernina Range of the Alps, located south of Pontresina in the canton of Graubünden. It lies in the range that separates the valley of Roseg from the valley of Morteratsch, north of Piz Bernina. It ...

(on 18 August).

Commemoration

*A statue of Coaz was placed outside the Boval Hut to the north-east of

Piz Morteratsch Piz Morteratsch (3,751 m) is a mountain in the Bernina Range in Switzerland. It is bordered on the east by the Morteratsch Glacier and on the south-west by the Tschierva Glacier. One of the easier of the higher mountains in the range to climb, ...

in 1922, to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. *The Coaz Hut (2,610 m) to the immediate west of

Piz Roseg Piz Roseg (pronounced as ''peetse rawzech'') is a mountain of the Bernina Range, overlooking the Val Roseg in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. There are two summits on its main ridge: :*the south-east and higher summit (3,937 m) :*the north-w ...

in the

is named after him. Designed by Jakob Echenmoser, it is a 16-sided building that replaced an earlier structure and was opened in 1964.Reynolds, Kev, ''Walks in the Engadine, Switzerland'', Cicerone Press, 1988, p. 95.

Bibliography

Works by Coaz

*''Der Wald'', Wilhelm Engleman, Leipzig, 1861, 80pp. *''Geschichtlich-statisticher Bericht an den hochlöbl: Grossen Rath über das Forstwesen in Graubünden mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Zeitraums von 1851/52 bis Ende 1868'', Offizin von Pradella u. Meyer, 1869, 38pp. *''Das Bündner Oberland: Itinerarium für das Excursionsgebiet des S.A.C Jahrbuch des Schweizer Alpenclub'', Druck der Zollikofer'schen Buchdruckerei, 1874, 75pp. *''La culture des osiers: rapport à la réunion de la Société suisse des forestiers le 28 août 1878'' (with Albert Davall), Jent & Reinert, 1879, 31pp. *''Die Kultur der Weide: Vorgetragen in der Versammlung des schweizerischen Forstvereins zu Aarau den 26. August 1878'', Schweizerischer Forstverein. Jahresversammlung, 1879, 29pp. *''Les ouragans des 20 février, 25 juin et 5 décembre 1879 et leurs ravages dans les forêts de la Suisse'', Département fédéral du commerce et de l'industrie, Impr. Jent et Reinert, 1880, 57pp. *''Die Lawinen der Schweizeralpen'', J. Dalp, 1881, 147pp. *''Der Frostschaden des Winters 1879/80 und des Spätfrostes vom 19./20. Mai 1880 an den Holzgewächsen in der Schweiz: Bearbeitet und veröffentlicht im Auftrage des Eidg. Handels- und Landwirthschaftsdepartements'', 1882, 176pp. *''Der Lawinenschaden im schweizerischen Hochgebirge im Winter und Frühjahr 1887–88'', Stämpfli, 1889, 67pp. *"Forêts", Part 5 of ''Bibliographie nationale suisse'', Wyss., 1894, 14pp. *''Anweisung zur Erforschung der Verbreitung der wildwachsenden Holzarten in der Schweiz'' (with Carl Schröter), Büchler, 1902, 10pp. *''Graubünden und das revidierte Bundesgesetz über die Forstpolizei'', Manatschal Ebner & Co., 1902, 10pp. *"Forstwesen: b) Forstverwaltung", ''Verlag Encyklopädie'', 1903, 2pp. *''Das Oberengadin'', Engadin Press Co., 1904, 2pp. *''Dendrologische Leistungen in der Schweiz: Vortrag zu Konstanz 1905'', Hermann Beyer & Söhne, Langensalza, 1905, 2pp. *''Ein Besuch in Val Scarl: Seitental des Unterengadin'' (with Carl Schröter and H. C. Schellenberg), Stämpfli, 1905, 55pp. *''Statistik und Verbau der Lawinen in den Schweizeralpen'', Buchdr. Staempfli, 1910, 126pp. *''Kulturversuch mit ausländischen Holzarten in der Waldung des Schlosses Marschlins, Gemeindegebiet von Igis, in Graubünden'', Bühler & Company, 1917, 14pp. *''Der graue Lärchenwickler als Schädling und dessen Bekämpfung'', Büchler & Co., 1917, 18pp. *''Erster Versuch eines Lawinen-Verbaues und erste Lawinen-Statistik samt Karte'', Sprecher, Eggerling & Company, 1918, 5pp. *''Aus dem Leben eines schweizerischen Topographen von 1844 bis 1851'', Stämpfli, 1918, 20pp.

Works on Coaz

*Conradin Ragaz: "Johann Wilhelm Fortunat Coaz", in ''Bedeutende Bündner aus fünf Jahrhunderten'', Calven-Verlag, Chur, 1970, vol. 2, pp. 108–18. *Conradin Ragaz: "Johann Wilhelm Coaz", in Pius Bischofberger, Bruno Schmid (eds), ''Grosse Verwaltungsmänner der Schweiz. Union'', Union Druck + Verlag AG, Solothurn, 1975, pp. 169–74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coaz, Johann Wilhelm 1822 births 1918 deaths Avalanche researchers Belgian emigrants to Switzerland 19th-century Swiss botanists Swiss cartographers Swiss foresters Swiss mountain climbers Swiss topographers Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry alumni People from Chur 20th-century Swiss botanists