Viktor Karlovich Knorre russian: Виктор Карлович Кнорре(4 October 1840 – 25 August 1919) was a Russian

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

ethnic origin. He worked in Nikolaev, Pulkovo and Berlin and is best known for having discovered 158 Koronis and three other minor planets. Knorre's father, Karl Friedrich Knorre, and grandfather, Ernst Friedrich Knorre, were also prominent astronomers. Recently, the main-belt asteroid 14339 Knorre was named in honor of the three generations of Knorre astronomers.

Biography and family background

Knorre was born into a three-generation astronomer family. His grandfather, Ernst Friedrich Knorre (1759–1810), had moved from Germany to

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

(now Tartu,

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

) where he worked (1803–10) as ''Observator'' for the

Dorpat observatory The Tartu Observatory ( et, Tartu Observatoorium) is the largest astronomical observatory in Estonia. On 1 January 2018, Tartu Observatory was joined again to the University of Tartu, and the observatory is now an institute of the university. I ...

(opened in 1802) and professor of Mathematics at the

University of 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 ...

. Victor Knorre's father, Karl Friedrich Knorre (1801–1883), set up and was director of the Nikolayev Astronomical Observatory starting in 1827. Viktor was born the fifth of fifteen children in Nikolayev (now Mykolayiv, Ukraine). He moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in 1862 to study astronomy with Wilhelm Julius Foerster. He worked at

Pulkovo Observatory The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory (russian: Пулковская астрономическая обсерватория, Pulkovskaya astronomicheskaya observatoriya), officially named the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academ ...

in 1867 as an astronomical calculator and then at

Berlin Observatory The Berlin Observatory (Berliner Sternwarte) is a German astronomical institution with a series of observatories and related organizations in and around the city of Berlin in Germany, starting from the 18th century. It has its origins in 1700 w ...

, where his father moved circa 1871.

Astronomer

From 1873, he was observer at the Berlin Observatory. Knorre discovered four asteroids. He did not teach students at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

; instead he gave introductions into the use of the telescopes of the Observatory. In 1892 he was appointed Professor of Astronomy. Knorre took an interest in the improvement of astronomical equipment, and published papers on an improved equatorial telescope mount, referred to as the "Knorre & Heele" mount.

Chess master

Knorre was also known as a strong chess player, playing among others against

Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (July 6, 1818 – March 13, 1879)"Anderssen, Adolf" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a German chess master. He won the great internat ...

, Gustav Neumann and

Johannes Zukertort Johannes Hermann Zukertort (Polish: ''Jan Hermann Cukiertort''; 7 September 1842 – 20 June 1888) was a Polish chess master. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, but lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Che ...

. He took part in several chess tournaments during the 1860s. In the

Two Knights Defense The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Nf6 First recorded by Giulio Cesare Polerio (c. 1550 – c. 1610) in the late 16th century, this line of the Italian Game was extensiv ...

the ''Knorre variation'' ( ECO code C59) is named after him. It follows the main line of the Two Knights defense for the first ten moves, and is characterized by the moves 10. Ne5 Bd6 11. d4 Qc7 12. Bd2. The Knorre variation of the Open defense in the Ruy Lopez, characterized by the move 6. Nc3, is also named after Knorre.

References

External links

* M. Ebell
Obituary on Viktor Knorre
in: Astronomische Nachrichten, 1919, volume 209, p. 367 (in German)
Biographical information on Viktor Knorre
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knorre, Viktor 1840 births 1919 deaths Astronomers from the Russian Empire 19th-century German astronomers Discoverers of asteroids * Russian chess players Ukrainian chess players German chess players Chess theoreticians 19th-century chess players Humboldt University of Berlin faculty