Friedrich Simony (30 November 1813, Hrochowteinitz – 20 July 1896, Sankt Gallen) was an Austrian

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and Alpine researcher. Initially trained as a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

, from 1836 he studied natural sciences 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 ...

by way of influence from

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Joseph Franz von Jacquin Joseph "Krystel" Franz Freiherr von Jacquin or Baron Joseph von Jacquin (7 February 1766, in Schemnitz (now Banská Štiavnica) – 26 October 1839, in Vienna) was an Austrian scientist who studied medicine, chemistry, zoology and botany. ...

. In 1848 he became a curator at the natural history museum in Klagenfurt, and during the following year, served as chief

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

at the Imperial Geological Institute in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1851, at the University of Vienna, he attained the first professorship for geography in Austria. In this role, he conducted research in the fields of

glaciology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or, more generally, ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, clim ...

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

speleology Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their chemical composition, composition, structure, physical property, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenes ...

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

phytogeography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution ...

, etc.Simony, Friedrich
Deutsche Biographie From 1840 he performed

geomorphological Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topography, topographic and bathymetry, bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. Ge ...

and glaciological research of the

Dachstein Mountains The Dachstein Mountains () are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps. The term is used by the Austrian Alpine Club in its classification of the Eastern Alps as one of the 24 sub-ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps (AVE No. 14). The ...

. In September 1843 he was the first to spend the night at the summit of

Hoher Dachstein Hoher Dachstein () is a strongly karstic mountain in central Austria and the second-highest mountain in the Northern Limestone Alps. It is situated at the border of Upper Austria and Styria, and is the highest point in each of those states. Pa ...

(2995 m); in January 1847 he was first to achieve a winter ascent of the peak.Heights of Reflection: Mountains in the German Imagination
by Sean Moore Ireton, Caroline Schaumann He is credited as being the first to undertake systematic

meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...

studies of the eastern

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, similar to the research Horace-Bénédict de Saussure performed in the western Alps years earlier.The Geographical Journal, Volume 1
Google Books He was a pioneer in the field of

limnology Limnology ( ; ) is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. It includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristics of fresh and saline, natural and man-made bodies of water. This includes the study of lakes, ...

; in 1844 he conducted

depth sounding Depth sounding, often simply called sounding, is measuring the depth of a body of water. Data taken from soundings are used in bathymetry to make maps of the floor of a body of water, such as the seabed topography. Soundings were traditional ...

s of the

Hallstätter See Hallstätter See or Lake Hallstatt is a lake in Salzkammergut, Austria. It is named after Hallstatt, a small market town famous for its salt mining since prehistoric times and for being the starting point of the world's oldest still-working indu ...

, results of which, were published decades later in ''Atlas der österreichischen Alpenseen'' ("Atlas of the Austrian Alpine lakes", edited by

Albrecht Penck Albrecht Penck (25 September 1858 – 7 March 1945) was a German geographer and geologist and the father of Walther Penck. Biography Born in Reudnitz near Leipzig, Penck became a university professor in Vienna, Austria, from 1885 to 1906, ...

and

Eduard Richter Eduard Richter (3 October 1847, Mannersdorf am Leithagebirge – 6 February 1905, Graz) was an Austrian geographer and glaciologist. Biography He studied history and geography at the University of Vienna, where his instructors included The ...

, 2 volumes, 1895–96). Throughout his career, he conducted extensive investigations on the depths and temperatures of all the lakes in

Salzkammergut The Salzkammergut (, ; ) is a resort area in Austria, stretching from the city of Salzburg eastwards along the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps to the peaks of the Dachstein Mountains. The main river of the region is the Traun (r ...

. In 1862 he was co-founder of the

Austrian Alpine Club The Austrian Alpine Club () has about 700,000 members in 194 sections and is the largest mountaineering organisation in Austria. It is responsible for the upkeep of over 234 alpine huts in Austria and neighbouring countries. It also maintains ove ...

. Today, the organization owns a building known as the "Simony-Hütte" (

Simony Hut The Simony Hut () is an Alpine club hut belonging to the Austrian Alpine Club (OeAV) located at a height of 2,205 metres, just below the Hallstätter Glacier at the foot of the Hoher Dachstein in Austria. The hut, named after Friedrich Simony, the ...

, 2205 m). It is located near

Hallstätter Glacier The Hallstätter Glacier () (formerly also called the ''Karleisfeld'' or Karl Icefield) is the largest glacier in the Dachstein Mountains. It lies immediately beneath the northern foot of the Dachstein itself and runs down to the Eissee lake below ...

and is named after him. His name is also associated with several Alpine landmarks, such as: ''Simonykees'' (Simony Glacier), ''Simony-Scharte'' (Simony Notch), ''Simonyschneide'' (Simony Ridge) and ''Simonyspitzen'' (Simony Peaks).

Selected works

* ''Die Seen des Salzkammergutes'', 1850. * ''Die Alterthümer vom Hallstätter Salzberg und dessen Umgehung'', 1851. * ''Physiognomischer Atlas der österreichischen Alpen'', 1862. * ''Die Gletscher des Dachsteingebirges'', 1871. * ''Das Dachsteingebeit: ein geographisches Charakterbild aus den österreichischen Nordalpen'', 3 volumes, 1889–95).WorldCat Search
published works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simony, Freidrich 1813 births 1896 deaths University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of the University of Vienna Geographers from Austria-Hungary People from Chrudim District German Bohemian people Scholars from the Austrian Empire