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Athanasius Kircher

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Athanasius Kircher

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Also known as Athanasius Kircher SJ, Athanasius Kircher, S.J., A. Kircher, Kircher, Pere Kircher, Father Kircher, Fr. Athanasius Kircher

German Jesuit scholar (1601 or 1602-1680)

OverviewAI-generated

Athanasius Kircher was a German author whose work period spanned from 1617 to 1680. He was born in 1602 and died in 1680. His musical output has been tagged with genres including German, Baroque, Renaissance, Classical, and early Baroque.

Kircher’s written works include *Primitiae gnomonicae catoptricae hoc est horologiographiae navae specvlaris*, *Musurgia universalis, sive, Ars magna consoni et dissoni in X. libros digesta ...*, *Magnes siue de arte magnetica opvs tripartitvm*, *Kircherus Jesuita germanus Germaniæ redonatus: sive Artis magnæ de consono & dissono ars minor*, and *Tariffa Kircheriana*. Records indicate he has 179 works listed on Open Library, 36 works on Europeana, and 5 works on Crossref.

Synthesized by Vinony from 21 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Last.fm, Europeana Sparql, Crossref, MusicBrainz, Open Library, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Athanasius
Gender
male
Citizenship
Germany
Place of birth
Geisa
Place of death
Rome
Occupation
philosopher
Languages spoken
Latin
Notable work
China Illustrata
Field of work
medicine
Image
Athanasius Kircher.jpg
Work location
Würzburg
Religious order
Society of Jesus
Show 13 more facts
date of birth
1602-00-00
Commons category
Athanasius Kircher
Commons Creator page
Athanasius Kircher
Commons gallery
Athanasius Kircher
name in native language
Athanasius Kircher
maintained by WikiProject
WikiProject Mathematics
place of burial
Rome
writing language
Latin
has works in the collection
Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes
start of work period
1617-01-01
end of work period
1680-01-01
date of death
1680-00-00
Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

36 objects attributed to Athanasius Kircher, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

Athanasii Kircheri ... Latium : Id est, Nova & parallela Latii tum veteris tum novi descriptio. Qua quaecunque vel natura, vel veterum Romanorum ingenium admiranda effecit, geographico-historico-physico ratiocino, juxta rerum gestarum, temporumque seriem exponitur & enucleatur

Athanasii Kircheri ... Latium : Id est, Nova & parallela Latii tum veteris tum novi descriptio. Qua quaecunque vel natura, vel veterum Romanorum ingenium admiranda effecit, geographico-historico-physico ratiocino, juxta rerum gestarum, temporumque seriem exponitur & enucleatur

Athanasii Kircheri e soc. Jesu Mundus subterraneus, in XII libros digestus ... tomus I [-II] ad Alexandrum VII pont. opt. max.

Athanasii Kircheri e soc. Jesu Mundus subterraneus, in XII libros digestus ... tomus I [-II] ad Alexandrum VII pont. opt. max.

Athanasii Kircheri ... China monumentis qua sacris quà profanis nec non variis naturae artis spectaculis aliarumque rerum memorabilium argumentis illustrata

Athanasii Kircheri ... China monumentis qua sacris quà profanis nec non variis naturae artis spectaculis aliarumque rerum memorabilium argumentis illustrata

Athanasii Kircheri... Arithmologia sive de abditis numerorum Arierijs qua origo, antiquitas & fabrica numerorum exponitur

Athanasii Kircheri... Arithmologia sive de abditis numerorum Arierijs qua origo, antiquitas & fabrica numerorum exponitur

Athanasii Kircheri ... e Soc. Iesu Prodromus coptus siue aegyptiacus .. cum linguae coptae siue aegyptiacae ... tum hieroglyphicae literaturae instauratio ... exhibentur

Athanasii Kircheri ... e Soc. Iesu Prodromus coptus siue aegyptiacus .. cum linguae coptae siue aegyptiacae ... tum hieroglyphicae literaturae instauratio ... exhibentur

Athanasii Kircheri diatribe De prodigiosis crucibus que tam supra vestes hominum, quam res alias, non pridem post vltimum incendium Vesuuuij montis Neapoli comparuerunt

Athanasii Kircheri diatribe De prodigiosis crucibus que tam supra vestes hominum, quam res alias, non pridem post vltimum incendium Vesuuuij montis Neapoli comparuerunt

Ad Alexandrum VII, Pont. Max Obelisci Aegyptiaci nuper inter Isaei Romani rudera effossi interpetatio hieroglyphica Athanasii Kircheri

Ad Alexandrum VII, Pont. Max Obelisci Aegyptiaci nuper inter Isaei Romani rudera effossi interpetatio hieroglyphica Athanasii Kircheri

Athanasii Kircheri e Soc. Iesu Polygraphia nova et vniuersalis ex combinatoria arte detecta quà quiuis etiam linguarum quantumuis imperitus triplici methodo ... : in III. syntagmata distributa ..

Athanasii Kircheri e Soc. Iesu Polygraphia nova et vniuersalis ex combinatoria arte detecta quà quiuis etiam linguarum quantumuis imperitus triplici methodo ... : in III. syntagmata distributa ..

Athanasij Kircheri e Soc. Iesu Itinerarium exstaticum quo mundi opificium id est coelestis expansi, siderumque tam errantium, quam fixorum natura, viers, proprietates, singulorumque compositio & structura, ab infimo telluris globo, vsque ad vltima mundi confinia,... noua hypothesi exponitur ad veritatem toribus Cosmiele et Theodidacto

Athanasij Kircheri e Soc. Iesu Itinerarium exstaticum quo mundi opificium id est coelestis expansi, siderumque tam errantium, quam fixorum natura, viers, proprietates, singulorumque compositio & structura, ab infimo telluris globo, vsque ad vltima mundi confinia,... noua hypothesi exponitur ad veritatem toribus Cosmiele et Theodidacto

Athanasii Kircheri ... Turris Babel sive Archontologia qua primo priscorum post diluvium hominum vita ... secundo Turris fabrica civitatumque extructio ..

Athanasii Kircheri ... Turris Babel sive Archontologia qua primo priscorum post diluvium hominum vita ... secundo Turris fabrica civitatumque extructio ..

Athanasii Kircheri e Soc. Jesu Magneticum naturae regnum sive Disceptatio physiologica de triplici in natura rerum magnete juxta triplicem ejusdem naturae gradum digesto inanimato, animato, sensitivo..

Athanasii Kircheri e Soc. Jesu Magneticum naturae regnum sive Disceptatio physiologica de triplici in natura rerum magnete juxta triplicem ejusdem naturae gradum digesto inanimato, animato, sensitivo..

Athanasii Kircheri ... Musurgia vniuersalis siue Ars magna consoni et dissoni in X libros digesta .. tomus I

Athanasii Kircheri ... Musurgia vniuersalis siue Ars magna consoni et dissoni in X libros digesta .. tomus I

Athanasii Kircheri... Magnes siue De arte magnetica opus tripartitum quo vniuersa magnetis natura, eiusque in omnibus scientijs artibus vsus, noua methodo explicatur..

Athanasii Kircheri... Magnes siue De arte magnetica opus tripartitum quo vniuersa magnetis natura, eiusque in omnibus scientijs artibus vsus, noua methodo explicatur..

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Encyclopedic overview

Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1601/1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fellow Jesuit Roger Joseph Boscovich and to Leonardo da Vinci for his vast range of interests, and has been honoured with the title "Master of a Hundred Arts". He taught for more than 40 years at the Roman College, where he set up a wunderkammer or cabinet of curiosities that would become the Kircherian Museum. A resurgence of interest in Kircher has occurred within the scholarly community in recent decades.

Kircher claimed to have deciphered the hieroglyphic writing of the ancient Egyptian language, but most of his assumptions and translations in the field turned out to be wrong. He did, however, correctly establish the link between the ancient Egyptian and the Coptic languages, and some commentators regard him as the founder of Egyptology. Kircher was also fascinated with Sinology and wrote an encyclopedia of China, where he revealed the early presence of Nestorian Christians while also attempting to establish links with Egypt and Christianity.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Athanasius Kircher” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (12)