Franz Xaver Maximilian Zippe (František Xaver Zippe) (15 January 1791 – 22 February 1863), was a
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
n natural philosopher, scientist and mineralogist.
Biography
After attending secondary school in Dresden, Zippe studied philosophy at the Prague University from 1807 to 1809. While still a student, he attended lectures of the chemist
Karl August Neumann (1771-1866) and
Josef Johann Steinmann (1779-1833), a professor of general chemistry at the
Polytechnic Academy in Prague. Zippe developed a close relationship with Dr. Steinmann. Starting in 1819 Zippe taught mineralogy, first as an adjunct, and beginning in 1822 as an assistant professor at the Polytechnic. In 1835 he became a full professor.
Zippe was a close associate of Count Kaspar Maria von Sternberg, the founder of the ''Prague Museum of the Bohemian Kingdom'' (predecessor of the
National Museum in Prague). Zippe, who was known during his youth for his passion for collecting was one of the first conservators of the Institute. Beginning in March 1819 he described and catalogued the collection and added to it his own self-made crystal models.
In November 1824, Zippe was placed in charge of the mineralogical department of the museum, which position he held until 1842. During this period, he enriched the museum with numerous mineral specimens from his frequent collecting trips which included mining sites in the mountains of the
Giant Mountains
The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech–Polish bor ...
,
Isergebirge (Jizera) and
Altvatergebirge (Hrubý Jeseníky). Beginning in 1833 he worked with Johann Gottfried Sommer on the 16-volume ''Topography of Bohemia''.
In 1846, Zippe became a corresponding member of the
Bavarian Academy of Sciences
The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities () is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject. The general goal of th ...
. In 1847 he became one of the first members of the
Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna. From 31 August 1849 until 1 October 1850, he served as the Director of the
Mining Academy at
Příbram
Příbram (; or ''Przibram'') is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. It is known for its mining history, and more recently, its new venture into economic restructuring.
The town is the t ...
. Beginning in the Fall of 1850, he taught mineralogy 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 ...
.
The uranium mineral
Zippeite
Zippeite is a hydrous potassium uranium sulfate mineral with formula: K4( U O2)6( SO4)3(O H)10·4( H2O). It forms yellow to reddish brown monoclinic-prismatic crystals with perfect cleavage. The typical form is as encrustations and pulverulent ea ...
, first found at
St. Joachimsthal (Jáchymov), was named in his honor.
[Rösler, Hans Jürgen (1981) ''Lehrbuch der Mineralogie'' (''Manual of Mineralogy'') Deutscher Verlag für Grundstoffindustrie, Leipzig, page 418, , in German]
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zippe, Franz Xaver
Mineralogists
Charles University alumni
People from Děčín District
German Bohemian people
1791 births
1863 deaths
Naturalists from the Austrian Empire