Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt (; 30 October 1728 near Grodno – 7 February 1810 in

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

) was a Polish–Lithuanian

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, astronomer and mathematician. He was professor of

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

for over 50 years, serving as its rector from 1780 to 1799. The crater Poczobutt on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

is named after him, as is the

main-belt asteroid The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...

. Poczobutt is also the author of the University's motto, ''Hinc itur ad astra'' (from here one rises to the stars).

Career

Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt was born in the village of near Grodno, within

Lithuania proper Lithuania proper refers to a region that existed within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania where the Lithuanian language was spoken. The primary meaning is identical to the Duchy of Lithuania, a land around which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania evolved. T ...

. He studied at

(1745–1751) and

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

in Prague (1754–1756). With brief interruptions he lectured at Vilnius University from 1753 to 1808. Sponsored by

Michał Fryderyk Czartoryski Prince Michał Fryderyk Czartoryski (1696–1775) was a Polish nobleman, the Duke of Klewań and , magnate, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle (from 1726). He headed Poland's Czartoryski " Familia". He served as Steward of Lithuania fr ...

, he further studied in France, Italy, and Germany from 1762 to 1764. His stay at the

Marseille Observatory Marseille Observatory () is an astronomical observatory located in Marseille, France, with a history that goes back to the early 18th century. In its 1877 incarnation, it was the discovery site of a group of galaxies known as Stephan's Quintet, ...

under inspired him to devote his career to astronomy. He earned

doctorate of philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, gained

professorship Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

, and became director of the Vilnius Astronomical Observatory in 1764. The observatory, established by Thomas Zebrowski, was in its early stages of development and Poczobutt worked hard to obtain modern instruments. Despite

suppression of the Jesuits Suppression may refer to: Laws * Suppression of Communism Act *Suppression order a type of censorship where a court rules that certain information cannot be published * Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand aimed ...

in 1773, the observatory gained royal favour from King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

—it was named royal observatory and Poczobutt became King's astronomer. In 1780, Poczobutt was appointed as university rector by the

Commission of National Education The Commission of National Education (, KEN, ) was the central educational authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created by the Sejm and King Stanisław August Poniatowski, Stanisław II August on October 14, 1773. Because of its ...

. He was tasked with reforming the university from a medieval school concentrated on humanities (philosophy and theology) to a modern scientific institution. Under Poczobutt the university improved its science, medicine, and law departments. As rector of the university he promoted the use of Latin and opposed any use of Polish or Lithuanian languages.

Scientific work

He often travelled to London where he ordered astronomical equipment from

Jesse Ramsden Jesse Ramsden Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (6 October 1735 – 5 November 1800) was a British mathematician, astronomy, astronomical and scientific instrument maker. His reputation was built on the engraving and design of dividing engine ...

and

John Dollond John Dollond (30 November 1761) was an English optician, known for his successful optics business and his patenting and commercialization of achromatic doublets. Biography Dollond was the son of a Huguenot refugee, a silk-weaver at Spitalfie ...

: a 4-foot

transit telescope In astronomy, a transit instrument is a small telescope with an extremely precisely graduated mount used for the precise observation of star positions. They were previously widely used in astronomical observatories and naval observatories to m ...

in 1765, 3.5-foot

achromatic telescope The achromatic telescope is a refracting telescope that uses an achromatic lens to correct for chromatic aberration. How it works When an image passes through a lens, the light is refracted at different angles for different wavelengths. This re ...

in 1770, 8-foot mural quadrant in 1777, and

meridian circle The meridian circle is an instrument for timing of the passage of stars across the local meridian, an event known as a culmination, while at the same time measuring their angular distance from the nadir. These are special purpose telescopes moun ...

in 1788. Other purchases included octant, equatorial, two

theodolite A theodolite () is a precision optical instrument for measuring angles between designated visible points in the horizontal and vertical planes. The traditional use has been for land surveying, but it is also used extensively for building and ...

s, 10-foot

sextant A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects. The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of cel ...

. The observatory was expanded by architect Marcin Knackfus in 1782–1788 to accommodate the new equipment. Poczobutt observed solar and lunar eclipses,

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

s and

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

s (including Ceres,

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

, Juno), and calculated geographic coordinates of settlements in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

(including

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and

Hrodna Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, from Minsk, about from the border with Poland, and from the border with Lithuania. Grodno serves as the ad ...

). In addition, he made measurements of Mercury to compute its orbit; later this data was used by

Jérôme Lalande Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande (; 11 July 1732 – 4April 1807) was a French astronomer, freemason and writer. He is known for having estimated a precise value of the astronomical unit (the distance from the Earth to the Sun) using measu ...

. He described 16-star constellation, which he named

Taurus Poniatovii Taurus Poniatovii (Latin for ''Poniatowski's bull'') was a constellation created by the former rector of Vilnius University, Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt, in 1777 to honor Stanislaus II Augustus Poniatowski of Poland, Stanislaus Poniatowski, King of ...

in honour of King Poniatowski (it is now obsolete and considered to be part of the

Ophiuchus Ophiuchus () is a large constellation straddling the celestial equator. Its name comes from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "serpent-bearer", and it is commonly represented as a man grasping a snake. The serpent is represented by the constellati ...

). His recorded observations amounted to 34 volumes. In 1770 he became the first in Lithuania to systematically measure and record weather temperature (continuous records survive since 1777). Poczobutt was elected a

fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1771 and a corresponding member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

in 1778. He was made a member of the

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

in 1785 and Order of the White Eagle in 1793.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poczobutt, Marcin Odlanicki 1728 births 1810 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the French Academy of Sciences Rectors of Vilnius University Vilnius University alumni Charles University alumni Kościuszko insurgents Lithuanian astronomers 18th-century Lithuanian Jesuits 18th-century Lithuanian mathematicians 18th-century Lithuanian Roman Catholic priests 18th-century Polish Jesuits 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian mathematicians 18th-century Polish Roman Catholic priests Jesuit scientists Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)

Career

Scientific work

See also

References