Jacob Struve (also Jakob Struve; November 21, 1755 – April 2, 1841) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and father of the

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve (, trans. ''Vasily Yakovlevich Struve''; 15 April 1793 – ) was a Baltic German astronomer and geodesist. He is best known for studying double stars and initiating a triangulation survey later named Struve ...

. Jacob Struve was born in 1755, in Horst,

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

. He was the youngest of the four children of Johann Struve (1710 – February 20, 1778) and Abel Strüven (November 23, 1719 – November 18, 1762). From a young age he had to work in the fields, but he also received lessons in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, German,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and in mathematics, which he liked most. From 1771 till 1775 he studied at the Christianeum High School in Altona, then part of both Denmark and Germany. Starting from 1775, he entered the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

(some sources say he studied at the University of Kiel) and attended mathematics lectures of

Abraham Gotthelf Kästner Abraham Gotthelf Kästner (27 September 1719 – 20 June 1800) was a German mathematician and epigrammatist. He was known in his professional life for writing textbooks and compiling encyclopedias rather than for original research. Georg Chr ...

, which were rather popular among students, including Struve. In 1780, through the assistance of one of his teachers,

Christian Gottlob Heyne Christian Gottlob Heyne (; 25 September 1729 – 14 July 1812) was a German classical scholar and archaeologist as well as long-time director of the Göttingen State and University Library. He was a member of the Göttingen school of history. ...

, Struve obtained a position of vice-principal in a Latin school in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. In 1783, he became a school principal in

Bückeburg Bückeburg (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Bückeburg ha ...

and from 1784 held the same position in Hanover. In 1783, Struve married Maria Emerentia Wiese (September 8, 1764 – July 14, 1847) from Hamburg. They had five sons and two daughters:David Abbott (gen. ed.), ''The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists, Astronomers'', New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1984 * Carl Ludwig Struve (1785–1838) *Ernst Struve (1786–1822) *Gustav Struve (1788–1829) *Christina Struve (1791–1853) *

(1793–1864) *Ludwig Struve (1795–1828) *Johanna Struve (1797–1871) Carl went into his father's footsteps and served as a school director in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

. Friedrich Georg Wilhelm became a distinguished astronomer. Ludwig graduated from the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

, obtained PhD degree in medicine and worked as anatomy professor at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. Maria Emerentia was a daughter of Pastor Stinde, who went to Russia as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

to Peter III. This might have affected further settlement of part of the

Struve family The Struve family (pronounced in German, in Russian) were a Baltic nobility, Baltic German noble family of Eastphalian origin and originated in Magdeburg, the family produced five generations of astronomers from the 18th to 20th centuries. Membe ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(mostly in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

). In particular, many sons of Struve left Germany, likely to avoid recruitment to the Napoleonic armies. In 1791, Struve became a professor at the Christianeum High School in Altona where he had graduated from, and from 1794 till his retirement in 1827 served as the school director. In the meantime, he continued his studies in the fields of

algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

probability theory Probability theory or probability calculus is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expre ...

and

number theory Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions. Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects constructed from integers (for example ...

, which were based on the works of Kästner,

Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...

and

Georg Simon Klügel Georg Simon Klügel (August 19, 1739 – August 4, 1812) was a German mathematician and physicist. He was born in Hamburg, and in 1760 went to the University of Göttingen where he initially studied theology before switching to mathematics. ...

. His results were published between 1800 and 1827 in more than 20 articles. In 1813, Struve obtained a doctoral degree from the

. He died in 1841 in Altona leaving a family which produced prominent astronomers for 5 generations ahead. His attitude to life could be expressed in a phrase from his letter to Friedrich:V. K. Abalakin ''et al.'
Struve dynasty
(in Russian), St. Petersburg University

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Struve, Jacob 1755 births 1841 deaths People from Steinburg

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

18th-century German people 19th-century German people 18th-century German mathematicians 19th-century German mathematicians People educated at the Gymnasium Christianeum People from the Duchy of Holstein