Theodor Thon (14 May 1792 – 17 November 1838) was a German naturalist, engraver, and inventor of a shorthand writing system. He taught a wide range of subjects at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

including some of the first academic lectures in stenography. His son

Sixtus Armin Thon Sixtus Armin Thon (10 November 1817, Eisenach – 26 September 1901, Weimar) was a German painter, etcher and lithographer. There is widespread disagreement over whether his name was Sixtus or Sixt, even though his gravestone says "Sixtus". Lif ...

became an engraver.

Biography

Thon was born on 14 May 1792, in

Eisenach Eisenach () is a Town#Germany, town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia, and bordering northeastern Hesse, Hessian re ...

. After graduating from the local gymnasium he went to the University of Jena where he studied mineralogy. In 1811, he received a doctorate for a new system of mineral classification. He worked as a docent and in 1813 he moved to Eisenach becoming a registrar of the Grand Duchal State in 1816. In 1821, he moved to Weimar where he began to draw and produce copper engravings. In 1827, his position at the University of Jena was renewed and he gave private lectures in science. He took an interest in natural history, mineralogy and began to organize lectures in stenography. He modified the system of shorthand developed by Karl Gottlieb Horstig (1763–1835). In 1834, he was promoted to extraordinary professor. He contributed drawings and engravings to the works of others. He published works on a wide range of topics including cooking, illustration, specimen collecting, stenography, economics, and home decoration. He also founded an entomological periodical called''Entomologisches Archiv'' of which only two volumes were produced between 1827 and 1830. Thon was married thrice. One of his sons Sixtus Armin Thon became a director of a drawing school in Weimar while another, Guido became a physician in Queensland, Australia. He died on 17 November 1838, aged 46.

References

External links

* ''Allgemeines oekonomisch-technologisches Kunst- und Gewerbe-Lexikon'
Volume 1 1838Volume 2 1839

''Die Drehkunst in ihrem ganzen Umfange oder deutliche Anweisung zur vollständigen Kenntniß aller Materialien''
(1825)
''Ueber den Nutzen der Stenographie besonders über die Vortheile, welche sie Studierenden gewährt''
(1827)
''Der Gebäudemaler und Decorateur, oder die Kunst, Gebäude sowohl von Außen, als von Innen''
(1826)
''Handbuch für Naturaliensammler oder gründliche Anweisung die Naturkörper aller drei Reiche zu sammeln, im Naturalienkabinet aufzustellen und aufzubewahren''
(1827) {{DEFAULTSORT:Thon, Theodor 1792 births 1838 deaths German naturalists Stenographers People from Eisenach