Edward R. Straznicky (c. 18209 February 1876) was superintendent of the

Astor Library The Astor Library was a free public library in the East Village, Manhattan, developed primarily through the collaboration of New York City merchant John Jacob Astor and New England educator and bibliographer Joseph Cogswell and designed by Alex ...

1872-1876. He created the first catalogue of the library which was published in 1857.

Biography

He was born in

Tišnov Tišnov (; ) is a town in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,200 inhabitants. Administrative division Tišnov consists of five municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 cens ...

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

, educated at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, taking degrees in the departments of

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, and acquired by travel a familiar knowledge of modern languages. He served as an assistant professor at the Higher Educational Private Institution of Agriculture in Magyaróvár (now Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences,

Széchenyi István University The Széchenyi István University (SZE), also known as the University of Győr, is located in Győr and Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary. The university was established in 1968. In cooperation with Audi Hungaria, Audi Hungaria Motor Kft, one of t ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

) from 1846 to 1848. During the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

he served as an officer in the

Hungarian Revolutionary Army The Hungarian Defence Forces (, ) is the national defence force of Hungary. Since 2007, the Hungarian Armed Forces has been under a unified command structure. The Ministry of Defence maintains political and civil control over the army. A subordi ...

. After the defeat of the nationalists he was exiled, and his property was confiscated. After a brief residence in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Straznicky went to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and found employment as a merchant in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In 1859 he became an assistant librarian in the Astor Library in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and in 1872 he was elected superintendent, an office he held until he died. Straznicky was also the librarian (1857-1859) and recording secretary of the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

, a position he held until 1872.

References

* *Hugo H. Hitschmann: Verzeichniss der Lehrer und Studirenden der erzherzoglichen landwirtschaftlichen Bildungsanstalt und der k. k. höheren landwirtschaftlichen Lehranstalt zu Ungarisch-Altenburg 1818-1848 und 1850-1864. Ung. Altenburg, 1865. Druck und Verlag von Alexander Czéh. 1820s births 1876 deaths University of Vienna alumni Emigrants from the Austrian Empire to the United States Forty-Eighters Scholars from the Austrian Empire American librarians 19th-century American merchants {{library-bio-stub