| Haidinger, Wilhelm Karl von Ritter
Austrian mineralogist and geologist, organizer of scientific activities. Following the foundation of the Imperial Geological Institute in Vienna in 1849 he became its first director. He studied at the universities of Graz and Freiberg. Since 1823 he lived in the family house of Thomas Allan, a banker in Edinburgh, whose family he accompanied on journeys through Europe. He stayed, in addition to other places, at the castle of Loket. During his travels he devoted his time to scientific studies. Since 1840, as a mining consultant, he was in charge of mineral collections of the court chamber in Vienna organizing classes on mineralogy. In 1846, he became member of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna. In the years 1830-1853, he described several new mineral species - such as johannite, millerite, zippeite, voglite, a.o. He discovered and described altogether about 54 new mineral species. In 1865, he was promoted to the order of knighthood and retired in 1866. His scientific and publication activities were very extensive. He published a large number of mineralogical, crystallographic and geological studies. When he was in charge of the Imperial Geological Institute, the whole territory of the Austrian Empire was mapped at a scale of 1 : 144 000. He is the author of textbook 'Handbuch der bestimmenden Mineralogie', and he also translated Mohs´ 'Grundriss der Mineralogie' into English. He published this extended and revised monograph under the title 'Treatise on Mineralogy by Fred. Mohs'. He was active in the foundation of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna and worked in Geological and Geographical Society in Vienna. He used to be editor of numerous of scientific journals. He is the author of dichroscopic magnifying glass, which is named after him 'Heidinger´s'.
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born 5th February 1795, Vienna, died 19th March 1871, Dornbach near Vienna