Born Slomiank, (Lithuania), 30 October 1728
Died Daugavpils, (Latvia), 17 November 1810
Lithuanian astronomer Marcin Poczobut directed the astronomical observatory at Vilnius University and contributed to the refinement of cartography in Eastern Europe. He was born in the Gardinas region of Lithuania. His father, Kazimier Odlanicki Poczobut, came from a noble family once promoted to bojar by King Sigismund I in 1536. His mother was Helena Hlebowicz.
Poczobut became a Jesuit in 1745 and followed that society's tenets until it was banned in 1773. After his graduation from Vilnius University in 1751, he continued studies of Greek, Latin, and mathematics at Prague University. He studied next in France and Italy from 1761 to 1763, where he acquired much of his knowledge of mathematics and astronomy. Upon returning to his homeland, Poczobut was appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy (1764) and later rector of Vilnius University (1780–1799). As third director of the university's...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Selected References
Anon. (1975). “Poczobutt, Martin.” In Encyclopedia Lituanica, edited by Simas Suziedis and Juozas Jakstas. Vol. 4, pp. 305–306. Boston: Juozas Kapocius.
Cunningham, Clifford J. (2002). The First Asteroid: Ceres, 1801–2001. Surfside, Florida: Star Lab Press.
Girnius, A. (1987). Martynas Poczobutas: Zymusis astronomas ir geodezininkas. Rome.
Rabowicz, Edmund (1983). “Poczobut (Poczobut Odlanicki) Marcin.” In Polski Slownik Biograficzny, edited by Wladyslaw Konopczynski et al. Vol. 27, pp. 52–62. Krakow: Gebethnera i Wolffa.
Slavenas, P. (1955). “Vilnius senoji astronomine observatorija.” Astronominis Kalendorius. Vilnius.
Tchenakal, V. L. (1961). “Martin Poczobutt i Peterburgskaia Akademia Nauk.” Istoriko‐astronomicheskie issledovaniia 7: 297–305.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Cunningham, C.J. (2007). Poczobut, Marcin [Martin Poczobutt]. In: Hockey, T., et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1105
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1105
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-31022-0
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30400-7
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics