Julius von Haast
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Sir Julius von Haast KCMG |
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| Born |
Johann Franz Julius Haast 1 May 1822 Bonn |
| Died | 16 August 1887 (aged 65) |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Geologist |
| Known for | Canterbury Museum |
| Spouse(s) | Antonia Schmitt, Mary Dobson |
Sir Johann Franz Julius von Haast KCMG (born Johann Franz Julius Haast, 1 May 1822 – 16 August 1887), known as Julius Haast and later as Julius von Haast, was a German geologist. He founded Canterbury Museum at Christchurch, New Zealand.
Johann Franz Julius Haast was born on 1 May 1822 in Bonn, a town in the Kingdom of Prussia, to a merchant and his wife. As a child, he attended a local school but was also educated at a grammar school in Cologne. After completing his formal schooling, he then entered the University of Bonn, where he studied geology and mineralogy. However, he did not graduate. As a young man, he travelled throughout Europe before basing himself in Frankfurt, working in the trading of books and mineral samples collected on his journeys. On 26 October 1846, Haast married Antonia Schmitt at Frankfurt, Germany. The marriage, although unhappy, produced a son named Robert two years later.
Haast was fluent in English and, in 1858, was contracted by a British shipping firm, A. Willis, Gann & Company, to report on the suitability of New Zealand for German emigrants. He travelled to London and in September of that year embarked abroad the Evening Star, destined for New Zealand. He arrived in Auckland on 21 December 1858 and, the following day, met the Austrian Ferdinand von Hochstetter at the home of a German emigrant. Hochstetter, on a scientific cruise aboard the ship Novara, had been invited by the Governor of New Zealand, Thomas Gore Browne, to provide advice on a recent find of a coal field south of Auckland, in Drury. Haast discovered the two men had a shared interest in geology and they quickly became friends.
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