Jacques Joseph Thulis (born 6 June 1748 in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, died 23 January 1810 in Marseille) was a French

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 ...

. He was director of Marseille Observatory.

Biography

Jacques Joseph Thulis was born into a family of rich merchants; his father Pierre Thulis and his brother Jean-Baptiste were respectively 2nd alderman in 1753 and 1st alderman in 1788. After studying at the Jesuit college, Joseph was sent to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

to manage a branch of his father's company; he stayed there for a little over six years. He returned to

in 1772 and devoted himself to

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

. In 1786 he went to

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (département), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Al ...

where an observatory equipped with good English-made facilities had been installed by the Duke of Saxe-Gotha. In the company of the Duke and

Franz Xaver von Zach Baron Franz Xaver von Zach (''Franz Xaver Freiherr von Zach''; 4 June 1754 – 2 September 1832) was an Austrian astronomer born at Pest, Hungary (now Budapest in Hungary). Biography Zach studied physics at the Royal University of Pest, and ...

he undertook a trip to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to visit the main observatories of this country. Joseph Thulis

On 20 November 1782 he was elected to the Académie de Marseille. The Marseille Observatory has a graphite drawing representing the portrait of this astronomer.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thulis, Joseph 18th-century French astronomers 1748 births 1810 deaths