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Erwin Raisz (1 March 1893, Lőcse,
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on the Raisz Landform Maps web site. * *
ICC-Preconference-Workshop: Atlases and Infographics, Tokyo, 2019/07/13 ''Erwin Raisz‘ Atlases – an early multi-method approach to cartographic communication'', by Eric Losang of Leibniz Institute fur Landerkunde
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Erwin Raisz (1 March 1893, Lőcse, 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 ...
– 1 December 1968, Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
, Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
) was a Hungarian-born American cartographer
Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...
, best known for his physiographic maps of landform
A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement ...
s.
Early life and education
Born in Lőcse, Hungary (now part ofSlovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
) in 1893, Raisz was the son of a civil engineer who introduced him to map
A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...
s through his work. He received his degree in civil engineering and architecture from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics
The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is a public research university located in Budapest, Hungary. It is the most significant university of technology in the country and is considered ...
(Royal Polytechnicum) in Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
in 1914.
Career
Raisz served in the army duringWorld War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, and emigrated to New York in 1923. He worked for the Ohman Map Company while studying for his 1929 Ph.D. at Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
. He offered a course in cartography while a student, one of the first such in the United States.
In 1931 he joined the Institute of Geographical Exploration at Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, where he taught cartography
Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...
and was curator of the map collection for 20 years. He created a significant body of work using hand-drawn pen-and-ink techniques, which during that period were largely being replaced by photo-mechanical processes and scribing. Because they were hand-drawn, his maps and graphics have a distinctive look to them, unique to his hand.
He was author of the first cartography textbook in English, ''General cartography'' (1938
Events
January
* January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS).
* January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
).
Raisz is best known for his physiographic maps, which describe landforms using his "orthoapsidal" Armadillo projection (essentially a small-scale variation on an isometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings. It is an axonometric projection in which the three coordinate axes appear equally foreshortened and ...
). Created for continents, nations and states, they form a solid corpus of work whose use continues today. Raisz Landform Maps, operated by his family, continues to publish much of his work.
Later life and death
He travelled extensively for his work and died in Bangkok on December 1, 1968, en route to present a paper at the 11th International Geographical Congress meeting inNew Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
.Raisz Landform Maps. Biography/ref>
Sources
on the Raisz Landform Maps web site. * *
ICC-Preconference-Workshop: Atlases and Infographics, Tokyo, 2019/07/13 ''Erwin Raisz‘ Atlases – an early multi-method approach to cartographic communication'', by Eric Losang of Leibniz Institute fur Landerkunde
(
Leibniz Association
The Leibniz Association (German: ''Leibniz-Gemeinschaft'' or ''Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz'') is a union of German non-university research institutes from various disciplines.
Funding and Structure
As of 2020, 96 non-u ...
)
Bibliography
*. *References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raisz, Erwin American cartographers Harvard University faculty 1893 births 1968 deaths Hungarian cartographers Columbia University alumni Hungarian emigrants to the United States Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I 20th-century cartographers