Editing Maximilian Hell (section)

== Biography ==

Born as Rudolf Maximilian Höll in [[Banská Štiavnica|Selmecbánya]], [[Hont County]], [[Kingdom of Hungary]] (present-day [[Slovakia]]),<ref name=Balazs/> but later changed his surname to Hell. He was the third son from the second marriage of his father Matthias Cornelius Hell (Matthäus Kornelius Hell) and his mother Julianna Staindl. The couple had a total of 22 children. Registry entries indicate that the family was of [[Carpathian Germans|German descent]], while Maximilian Hell later in life (ca. 1750) is known to declare himself as Hungarian.<ref name=Balazs/> but his mother tongue was [[German language|German]].<ref name=Balazs/> Even so, Hell considered himself a [[Hungarian people|Hungarian]].<ref name=Balazs/><ref>''"God God, who had believed that we will find brothers from the same ancient father in the Lapp people! Hungarians, our brethren, who speak our Hungarian language, wear our Hungarian clothes, live according to the customs of our Hungarian fathers, summing it up: our brethren."'' Maximilian Hell's letter to Pater Höller, written in [[Vardø (town)|Vardø]], April 6, 1769. More letters from Hell at: [http://www.kfki.hu/~tudtor/tallozo1/hell/hell2.html#fIII1] ([[Hungarian language|Hungarian]])</ref>

The place of birth of Maximilian's father is unknown; the settlements [[Kremnica|Körmöcbánya]] (today [[Kremnica]]), [[Horní Slavkov|Schlagenwald]], (today [[Horní Slavkov]]) or [[Ostrov nad Ohří|Schlackenwerth]] (today [[Ostrov nad Ohří]]) are most frequently given. Born in a mixed German, Hungarian and Slovak town,<ref name=Balazs>{{cite journal |title= The European scientist: symposium on the era and work of Franz Xaver von Zach (1754–1832): proceedings of the symposium held in Budapest on September 15–17, 2004|volume=24|journal=Acta Historica Astronomiae|last=G. Balázs|first=Lajos|date=2004|publisher=[[Verlag Harri Deutsch]]|isbn=978-3-8171-1748-2|page= 46}}</ref> he presumably knew Slovak to a certain extent<ref name=Balazs/> and he probably understood Hungarian,<ref name=Balazs/> but his mother tongue was [[German language|German]].<ref name=Balazs/> Even so, Hell considered himself a [[Hungarian people|Hungarian]].<ref name=Balazs/><ref>''"God God, who had believed that we will find brothers from the same ancient father in the Lapp people! Hungarians, our brethren, who speak our Hungarian language, wear our Hungarian clothes, live according to the customs of our Hungarian fathers, summing it up: our brethren."'' Maximilian Hell's letter to Pater Höller, written in [[Vardø (town)|Vardø]], April 6, 1769. More letters from Hell at: [http://www.kfki.hu/~tudtor/tallozo1/hell/hell2.html#fIII1] ([[Hungarian language|Hungarian]])</ref> Hell with another Jesuit priest, [[János Sajnovics]] tried to explore the already widely discussed but insufficiently documented [[Finno-Ugric languages|affinity]] between the language of the [[Sami people|Sami]], [[Finns]] and the [[Hungarian people|Hungarians]] during and after their residency in [[Vardø (town)|Vardø]]. (''Demonstratio idioma Ungarorum et Lapponum idem esse'', 1770 Copenhagen)<ref name="Kragh"/><ref>{{cite book|author1=Jacek Juliusz Jadacki |author2=Witold Strawiński |author3=Jerzy Pelc |title=In the World of Signs: Essays in Honour of Professor Jerzy Pelc|publisher=Rodopi|pages=459|date=1998|isbn=9789042003897}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mikko Korhonen|title=Finno-Ugrian Language Studies in Finland, 1828-1918|publisher=Societas Scientiarum Fennica|pages=226|date=1986|isbn=9789516531352}}</ref>
 
[[File:Ephemerides Astronomicae 1781 Vindobonensem title page.png|thumb|left|160px|Title page of the Ephemerides Vindobonensem for 1781]]
Hell became the director of the [[Vienna Observatory]] in 1756.<ref name=Kragh80>{{Harvnb|Kragh|2008| p=80}}</ref>  He published the astronomical tables ''Ephemerides astronomicae ad meridianum Vindobonemsem'' ("Ephemerides for the Meridian of Vienna"). He and his assistant [[János Sajnovics]] went to [[Vardø (town)|Vardø]] in the far north of [[Norway]] (then part of [[Denmark-Norway]]) to observe the 1769 [[transit of Venus]]. He was elected as a foreign member of the [[Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters]] on October 13, 1769. This society also funded the publication of his 1770 account of the Venus passage ''Observatio transitus Veneris ante discum Solis die 3. Junii anno 1769'' (Copenhagen, 1770).<ref>''Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 1742-1942 - Samlinger til Selskabets Historie'', vol. 1, Copenhagen, 1942, p. 386.</ref>

There was some controversy about Hell's observations of the transit of Venus because he stayed in Norway for eight months, collecting non-astronomical scientific data about the arctic regions for a planned encyclopedia (which never appeared, in part due to the suppression of the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit order]]).  The publication of his results was delayed, and some (notably [[Joseph Johann Littrow]]) accused Hell posthumously of falsifying his results.  However, [[Simon Newcomb]] carefully studied Hell's notebooks and exonerated him a century after his death in [[Vienna]].

Besides [[astronomy]], Hell also had an interest in [[magnet therapy]] (the alleged healing power of magnets), although it was [[Franz Anton Mesmer]] who went further with this and received most of the credit.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-03-05|title=Franz Mesmer's hypnotic health craze|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/franz-mesmer-hypnotism-mesmerized|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423084042/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/franz-mesmer-hypnotism-mesmerized|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 23, 2021|access-date=2021-10-21|website=History|language=en}}</ref>

In 1771, Hell was elected a foreign member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]].

The crater [[Hell (crater)|Hell]] on the [[Moon]] is named after him.