Johann Jakob Früh (22 June 1852 in

Märwil Märwil is a village and former municipality in the district of Frauenfeld (district), Frauenfeld in the canton of Thurgau, Switzerland. It was first recorded in 827 as ''Marinwilare''. The municipality also contained the villages Breite bei Mär ...

– 8 April 1938 in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

) was a Swiss

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

. From 1869 to 1872 he attended the teacher's seminar in

Kreuzlingen Kreuzlingen () is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second-largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of about 22 ...

, then furthered his education at the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and

Polytechnic A polytechnic is an educational institution that primarily focuses on vocational education, applied sciences, and career pathways. They are sometimes referred to as ''institutes of technology'', ''vocational institutes'', or ''universities of app ...

. From 1877 to 1890 he taught classes in natural sciences and geography at the cantonal school in Trogen, and afterwards worked as an assistant geologist at the Polytechnic in Zürich. In 1891 he obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

, and in 1899 became the first full professor of geography at the Polytechnic.

Published works

In 1930–38 he published a major work on Swiss geography, titled ''Geographie der Schweiz'' (3 volumes). With

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Carl Joseph Schröter Carl Joseph Schröter (19 December 1855 – 7 February 1939) was a Swiss botanist born in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. From 1874 he studied natural sciences at ''Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule'' (ETH Zurich), where one of his early influe ...

, he was co-author of a book on Swiss

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

s, called ''Die Moore der Schweiz : mit Berücksichtigung der gesamten Moorfrage'' (1904). Other noted works by Früh are: * ''Über Torf und Dopplerit : eine minerogenetische Studie für Geognosten, Mineralogen, Forst- und Landwirthe'', 1883 – On

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

and

dopplerite Dopplerite is a naturally occurring organic substance found in amorphous, elastic or jelly-like masses, of brownish-black color, in peat beds in Styria and in Switzerland. It is tasteless, insoluble in alcohol and ether, and is described by James Dw ...

: a minerogenetic study. * ''Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Nagelfluh der Schweiz'', 1888 – Contributions to the knowledge of Switzerland's conglomerate.Most widely held works by Johann Jacob Früh
WorldCat Identities

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fruh, Johann Jakob 1852 births 1938 deaths People from Frauenfeld District Academic staff of ETH Zurich Swiss geographers 19th-century Swiss geologists 20th-century Swiss geologists