Valentin Stansel

{{Short description|Czech astronomer (1621–1705)}} {{more citations needed|date=May 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox scientist |name = Valentin Stansel or Stanzel |image = |image_size = |birth_date = {{birth year|1621}} |birth_place = [[Olomouc, Moravia]], [[Kingdom of Bohemia]] |death_date = {{dda|1705|12|18|1621}} |death_place = [[Bahia]], Brazil |field = [[Mathematics]], [[astronomy]] |work_institutions = {{ubl|University of Olomouc|[[Charles University]]|[[University of Évora]]}} |alma_mater = [[University of Olomouc]] |prizes =  }} '''Valentin Stansel''' or '''Stanzel''' (1621 – 18 December 1705) was a Czech [[Jesuit]] [[astronomer]] who worked in Brazil.

==Biography== Valentin Stanzel was born to a German family in [[Olomouc, Moravia]].<ref name="appleton">{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Stansel, Valentine|year=1900}}</ref><ref name="CE">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Valentin Stansel}}</ref> He entered the [[Society of Jesus]] on 1 October 1637, and taught rhetoric and mathematics at [[University of Olomouc]] and in [[Prague]]. After being ordained, he requested an appointment to the Jesuit mission in India, and went to Portugal to await an opportunity of taking ship for his destination. Meantime, he lectured on astronomy at the [[University of Évora|college of Évora]]. While there, in order to conform to the language of the country, he changed his name to the form "Estancel", in which form it appears on the title pages of most of his published works.

He was unable to procure passage to India, traveling instead to Brazil, where he was attached to the Jesuit College and Seminary of [[Salvador, Bahia]], as professor of Moral Theology. He also later served as the institution's Superior. At the same time he continued his astronomical work, and made extensive observations, particularly on [[comet]]s, the results of which he was sending to Europe for publication.

On 5 March 1668 Valentin Stanzel discovered a bright comet.<ref>[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/2002JBAA..112...13E/0000021.000.html Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol.112, no.1, p. 21]</ref> His observations of the comet of 1668 are mentioned in [[Isaac Newton|Newton's]] Principia.

Valentin Stanzel died in [[Salvador, Bahia]], Brazil.

==Chief works== *''{{lang|la|Dioptra geodetica}}'' (Prague, 1652 or 1654) *''{{lang|la|Propositiones selenegraphicæ, sive de luna}}'' (Olmütz, 1655) *''{{lang|la|Orbe Affonsino, horoscopio universal}}'' (Évora, 1658) *''{{lang|la|Mercurius brasilicus, sive de Coeli et soli brasiliensis oeconomia}}'' *''{{lang|la|Zodiacus Divini Doloris, sive Orationes XII}}'' (Évora, 1675) *''{{lang|la|Legatus uranicus ex orbe novo in veterum, h. e. Observationes Americanæ cometarum factæ, concriptæ et in Europam missæ}}'' (Prague, 1683) *''{{lang|la|Uranophilus coelestis peregrinus, sive mentis Uranicæ per mundum sidereum peregrinantis ecstases}}'' (Antwerp and Ghent, 1685) *''{{lang|la|Mercurius Brasilicus, sive Cœli et soli brasiliensis oeconomica}}''

==See also== *[[List of Jesuit scientists]] *[[List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics]]

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==References== *{{Catholic|wstitle=Valentin Stansel}} Cites **[[Carlos Sommervogel|Sommervogel, Carlos]], {{lang|fr|Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus}}, VII (Brussels, 1896)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stansel, Valentin}} [[Category:1621 births]] [[Category:1705 deaths]] [[Category:Czech Jesuits]] [[Category:Czech astronomers]] [[Category:Moravian-German people]] [[Category:Clergy from Olomouc]] [[Category:Catholic clergy scientists]] [[Category:Jesuit missionaries in Brazil]] [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Évora]] [[Category:17th-century astronomers]] [[Category:Jesuit scientists]] [[Category:Czech Roman Catholic missionaries]] [[Category:Czech expatriates in Brazil]] [[Category:Academic staff of Palacký University Olomouc]] [[Category:Scientists from Olomouc]]