Henry James Anderson

Infobox_Scientist
name = Henry James Anderson


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birth_date = February 6, 1799
birth_place = New York City, New York
death_date = October 19, 1875
death_place = Lahore, India
residence =
citizenship = American
nationality = American
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field = Astronomer, geologist and mathematician
work_institution = Columbia College
alma_mater = Columbia College
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doctoral_students =
known_for = Participation in the United States Dead Sea exploration expedition
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religion = Roman Catholic
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Henry James Anderson (February 6, 1799 – October 19, 1875) was an American scientist and educator. He was born in New York City, and graduated from Columbia College in 1818 he subsequently studied medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. He did not practice medicine for long however, instead devoting himself to scientific and literary pursuits. He was appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy at Columbia College in 1825, when he was twenty-six years old; he retained his chair for twenty-five years. He married Fanny Da Ponte, the daughter of Lorenzo Da Ponte. They had two children Elbert Ellery and Edward Henry. In 1848, he accompanied the United States Dead Sea exploration expedition, commanded by Captain William F. Lynch, as a geologist. His reports from the expedition, "Geological Reconnaissance of Part of the Holy Land", were published by the United States government in 1848 and 1849. Under the aegis of the American Geographical and Statistical Society, Anderson circulated a petition urging the United States to promote Jewish colonization in Palestine, part of the Jewish restoration movement that flowered at the time.Michael Oren (2007). "Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present" (New York: W.W. Norton & Company) pp. 140-141.]

Anderson converted to Catholicism in 1849; he was active in his new faith for the rest of his life. He was made president of the Particular Council of New York in 1856, and later the head of the Supreme Council in 1860. He visited Pope Pius XI in Rome several times, and was eventually made a Knight Commander of the order of St. Gregory the Great. He made a pilgrimage to Lourdes and Rome in 1875; afterwards, he travelled to Australia in order to observe a transit of Venus. He planned to return home by way of India, but, after mountain-climbing in the Himalayas, he died of a disease in Lahore on October 19. He is buried in a vault under the Church of the Madonna in Fort Lee, New Jersey, a church in whose construction he had been involved.

References

*CathEncy|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Henry_James_Anderson|title=Henry James Anderson
* Russo, Joseph Louis. "Lorenzo Da Ponte Poet and Adventurer." Columbia University studies in romance philology and literature. New York: AMS Press, 1966. [http://books.google.com/books?id=ONk5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=lorenzo+da+ponte&ei=FvATR-vALITg6wK92LHJBw#PPA118,M1 googlebooks.com] Accessed October 15, 2007
*Michael Oren (2007). Power, Faith, and Fantasy: The United States in the Middle East, 1776 to 2006 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company) ISBN 0393058263

Persondata
NAME = Anderson, Henry James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Astronomer, geologist, mathematician and professor
DATE OF BIRTH = February 6, 1799
PLACE OF BIRTH = New York City, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH = October 19, 1875
PLACE OF DEATH = Lahore, India