Franz Ignatz Cassian Hallaschka

Franz Ignatz Cassian Hallaschka

Franz Ignatz Cassian Hallaschka; Czech: František Ignác Kassián Halaška (10 July 1780, Bautsch – 12 July 1847, Prague) was a Moravian physicist.

In 1799 he became a member of the Piarists. He studied mathematics, physics, philosophy and theology at schools in Strassnitz, Nikolsburg and Kremsier, receiving his ordination in April 1804. In 1806 he taught classes in mathematics and physics at the Ordenscollegium in Nikolsburg, and during the following year, obtained his PhD at the University of Vienna. In 1808 he became a professor of physics in Brünn, where he established an observatory. From 1814 to 1833 he was a professor of physics at the University of Prague. In 1816 he published "Elementa eclipsium quas patitur tellus", a work in which he calculated all solar eclipses observable from the Earth for the years 1816 up until 1860. In 1823 he became a member of the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences, and in 1831 was appointed university rector.

In 1833 he was named a government counselor and a referent to the Studienhofcommission at Vienna. From 1838 until his death he served as a provost to Alt-Bunzlau and as a country prelate of Bohemia.

Selected works

• Elementa eclipsium quas patitur tellus, luna eam inter et solem versante, ab A.1816 usque ad A.1860, (The elements of eclipses), 1816.
• Die freie Municipalstadt Bautsch in Mähren in geographisch-topographischer und historischer Beziehung, 1822 – The Moravian city of Bautsch in geographic-topographical and historical relationships.
• Geographische Ortsbestimmung von Altbunzlau, 1822 – Geographical localization of Alt-Bunzlau.
• Handbuch der Naturlehre, 1824 – Manual of nature philosophy.
• Geographische Ortsbestimmung von Steinschönau (with Franz Xaver Heinrich Kreylich) 1826 – Geographical localization of Steinschönau.