Johann Georg Hagen

Johann (John) Georg Hagen (March 6, 1847 – September 5, 1930) was an eminent American astronomer and Catholic priest.

Early life

Johann Georg Hagen was born in Bregenz, Austria. He was the son of a school teacher.

Entering the Jesuit Order

Johann entered the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, in Gorheim, Germany in 1863. He attended a Jesuit College in Feldkirch, Austria and also studied mathematics and astronomy at the University of Bonn and the University of Munster. He volunteered for the ambulance service in the Franco-Prussian War, but was struck with typhoid fever.

Expulsion

On July 4, 1872, Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of Germany, expelled the Jesuits from the German Empire. Johann fled to England where he was eventually ordained into the priesthood.

Emigration to US

In June 1880, he left England for the United States. There he began teaching at Sacred Heart College in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. There he cultivated his interest in astronomy and built a small observatory for making astronomical observations. In Wisconsin, he became a naturalized citizen.

He was called to serve as the Director of the Georgetown University Observatory in 1888. There he continued his research and published numerous articles and texts.

Vatican Observatory

In 1906, John was called by Pope Pius X to take charge of the Vatican Observatory in Rome. He died in Rome in 1930.

The Hagen crater on the Moon is named for him.

References

Wisconsin Journal of History, December 1941, page 180.

ee also

*List of craters on the Moon, G-K