Johann Nepomuk von Mittrowsky

Count Johann Nepomuk von Mittrowský (1757–1799), an Enlightenment thinker and philanthropist, did a great to enrich the field of scientific research in Moravia. He made his name primarily as a mineralogist, although was also involved in geology, volcanology, chemistry, botany and zoology. Count Mittrowský is also associated with the study of Moravia’s mineral springs.

A native of the city of Brno, Johann Nepomuk von Mittrowský devoted his entire life to scientific research and is rightly considered the founder of Moravian mineralogy. His work is particularly associated with the chateau in Dolní Rožínka, where in 1792 he set up a large mineralogical cabinet. Although his early death put an end to his plan to write an extensive book on mineralogy, the manuscript of the first 224 pages of this grand project has been preserved. Count Mittrowský was also the first to conduct a thorough analysis of the mineral springs of Moravia. Not only did he describe them, he also carried out a chemical analysis and studied their use for curative purposes. He conducted a detailed analysis of the springs in Luhačovice. Mittrowský had become interested in volcanology during a trip to Italy back in 1784, when he also visited Naples, and took the opportunity to carefully study and describe the volcano Vesuvius.

Like Ignaz von Born in Prague and Vienna, Mittrowský pushed for the establishment of a scientific society as part of the Brno Freemasons’ lodge Zu wahren vereinigten Freunden (For Truly United Friends). However, his efforts were not as successful as Born’s, even though the natural sciences, homeland studies and medical topics were all part of the lodge’s practical activities from 1791, when Mittrowský became its head and advocated its reform. The Private Society of Science and Homeland Studies in Moravia, supporting systematic naturalist work, was established at Mittrowský’s instigation after the dissolution of the Brno Freemasons in 1794.

Kroupa, J.: Alchymie štěstí. Brno 2006, s. 126–132, 154–181.

Kroupa, J.: Jan Nepomuk Mittrovský – svobodný zednář a vědec. In: Beneš, Z. Duchem, ne mečem: Fakta, úvahy, souvislosti. Praha 2003, s. 169–178.

Wurzbach, C.: Mittrowsky, Johann Nepomuk Graf von. In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich, sv. 18, 1868, s. 394–396. 

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