Gottlieb Emanuel von Haller (1735–1786) was a Swiss historian, numismatist, botanist, politician, diplomat and librarian.

Biography

He was the eldest son of polymath

Albrecht von Haller Albrecht von Haller (also known as Albertus de Haller; 16 October 170812 December 1777) was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist, encyclopedist, bibliographer and poet. A pupil of Herman Boerhaave and Jacob Winslow, he is sometimes r ...

. Born in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, he studied law and history in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, where his father was professor for medicine and botany. He returned to Bern in 1753. He entered public service in Bern, in 1763 as vice-librarian, 1765 as secretary of the war council, and from 1775 as member of the city council. He was a fellow of the

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

from 1778. He was sent to represent Bern in the transmontane bailiwicks in 1779/80 and from 1785 until his death he served as reeve of

Nyon Nyon (; historically German language, German: or and Italian language, Italian: , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Nyon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometer ...

. He married Anna Margarethe Schultheß (1734–1810) in 1761, with whom he had six sons and four daughters. One of his sons was political philosopher

Karl Ludwig von Haller Karl Ludwig von Haller (1 August 1768 – 20 May 1854) was a Swiss jurist, statesman and political philosopher. He was the author of ''Restauration der Staatswissenschaft'' (Restoration of Political Science, 1816–1834), a book which gave its na ...

Works

As a student, he wrote pamphlets against the Linnean system of taxonomy. During his career he authored numerous works on bibliothecography,

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

and the

history of Switzerland Since 1848, the Swiss Confederation has been a federal republic of relatively autonomous Cantons of Switzerland, cantons, some of which have a history of federation that goes back more than 700 years, putting them among the world's oldest surviv ...

, writing in German, French and Latin. His magnum opus was a ''History of Switzerland'' (''Bibliothek der Schweizer-Geschichte'') in six volumes, two volumes published during his lifetime, the remaining four, which were ready for print at the time of his death, were published posthumously by J.J. Stapfer. *''Epistola ad patrem, dubia ex Linnaei fundamentis botanicis hausta continens'', Göttingen, 1750 *''Dubiorum contra sect. VII. Fundam. bot. Linnaei'', Göttingen, 1753 *''Specimen bibliothecae Helveticae'', Bern, 1757 *''Conseils pour former une Bibliothèque historique de la Suisse'', Bern, 1771 *''

Wilhelm Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

– Eine Vorlesung'', Bern, 1772 *''Schweitzerisches Münz- und Medaillenkabinett'', Bern, 1781/82 *''Bibliothek der Schweizer-Geschichte und aller Theile, so dahin Bezug haben'', Bern, 1785–1787 (doi:10.3931/e-rara-24952)

References

*Emil Blösch: "Haller, Gottlieb von", ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

'' vol. 10, (1879), 430f. *Hans Haeberli: "Haller, Gottlieb Emanuel von", ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' vol. 7 (1966), 548f. {{DEFAULTSORT:Haller, Gottlieb Emanuel von 1735 births 1786 deaths 18th-century Swiss historians Swiss numismatists People from Bern

Biography

Works

See also

References