Karl L. Littrow


Karl Ludwig Edler von Littrow was an Austrian astronomer.
Born in Kazan, Russian Empire, he was the son of astronomer Joseph Johann Littrow. He studied mathematics and astronomy at the universities of Vienna and Berlin, receiving his doctorate at the University of Krakow in 1832. In 1842 he succeeded his father as director of the Vienna Observatory. Under his leadership, construction of a new observatory began in Währing in 1872; he died, however, prior to its completion. He was the husband of Auguste von Littrow.
He died in Venice, Italy.
He is the great-great-grandfather of Roman Catholic Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.

Publications

He made contributions to a new edition of Johann Samuel Traugott Gehler's Physikalisches wörterbunch.