Person Struve; Friedrich Georg Wilhelm (1793 - 1864); astronomer and geodesist Struve Friedrich Georg Wilhelm astronomer and geodesist Василий Яковлевич Струве Vasily Yakovlevich 1793 - 1864 Russian Male Altona, Lower Saxony, Germany, Europe 15 April 1793 17930415 St. Petersburg, Pulkovo, Leningrad Oblast, Russia, Asia 23 November 1864 18641123

Astronomer Geodesy Astronomy Education: Imperial University of Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) (1808) Career: Professor of astronomy and mathematics at the University of Dorpat (1813); Director of Dorpat Observatory (1817) where he achieved international acclaim, particularly after 1824, following receipt of the Fraunhofer equatorial telescope, with the 9.6-inch achromatic objective lens (the largest aperture for its day); published his studies on multiple-star systems in Catalogus novus (1827), Mensurae micrometricae (1837), and Positiones mediae (1852); began efforts to measure the parallax of Vega (1835); founder and director of the Pulkovo Observatory (1839); continued observing binary stars and moved into the areas of practical astronomy and geodesy, published Beschreibung der Breitengradmessung in den Ostseeprovinzen Russlands (1831); founded the Russian Geographical Society (1845). Memberships: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1833); Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1834); American Philosophical Society (1853) Medals/Awards: Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1826) Parents: Jacob Struve, mathematician Spouse: 1) Emilie Wall (1815); 2) Johanna Henriette Francisca Bartels (1834); Children: Otto Wilhelm Struve (For Mem RS 1873); Heinrich Wilhelm von Struve, chemist; Bernhard Wilhelm von Struve, government official in Siberia; Karl von Struve, Russian ambassador to Japan, the United States, and the Netherlands Grandchildren: Hermann von Struve Founded the modern study of binary stars. Initiated a triangulation survey later named Struve Geodetic Arc. The asteroid 768 Struveana was named jointly in his honour and that of Otto Wilhelm and Karl Hermann Struve. Medals and prizes: Royal Medal 1827 Foreign Member 15/03/1827 34 H Davy Pres RS; Everard Home; Thomas Young; John Geo Children; F Beaufort; J F W Herschel; J South; Wm H Wollaston; G Pear[son]; Francis Baily; Charles Babbage Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DSB; Encyclopedia Britannica [URL; https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Georg-Wilhelm-von-Struve; last accessed 20/12/2023] Obituaries: Proc Roy Soc 1865 vol 14 pp xx-xxii International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 RCN R64862 RCN 59648 RCN R65424 RCN R65425 RCN R64863 RCN R64864 RCN 34080 RCN R65427 RCN R65428 RCN R65429 RCN R65430 RCN 34079 RCN 37807 RCN 37808 RCN R65407 15 Apr 1793 - 23 Nov 1864 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 20/12/2023 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA5563 21/11/2001 Andyg Martind 17/09/2025 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes 47ea8569-fde7-49e2-88b1-32ff865c513a