František Pošepný (1836-1895)

C.C. Mining Council Prof. František Pošepný is considered one of the creators of the world's deposit geology. His importance and scientific fame far exceeded the borders of our country. František Pošepný was born on 30 March 1836 in Jilemnice. He received his primary education in schools in Liberec and Dvůr Králové, then attended first the Prague Real School and then the Polytechnic Institute in Prague.

From 1857 he continued his studies at the Montánské učiliště in Příbram, where he was particularly attentive to the lectures on deposit geology given by the headmaster Johann Grimm. After two years in Pribram, he graduated in 1859 and was accepted into the civil service. He then began his own scientific work in close connection with practice. In 1860 he was assigned as a mining trainee to the mining directorate in Cluj, where he worked intermittently until 1869.

In 1870, he was appointed chief geologist for the Urals, based in Banská Štiavnica. He carried out research on a number of Slovak ore deposits and the accompanying genetic phenomena, especially in Magurka, Špana Dolina, Kremnica and Nová Bana. Due to disagreements with the mining directorate in Štiavnica, he resigned in 1874 and worked as a geologist at the Ministry of Ploughing and Mining in Vienna. In 1879, he submitted a comprehensive proposal to this ministry justifying the need to introduce the study of geology of deposits at the Austrian mining academies, which was accepted. A new department for this subject was established simultaneously in Leoben and in Pribram, where Pošepný was entrusted with its interpretation. It became increasingly obvious to him that the hitherto common classification of ore deposits according to shape and mineral content was insufficient, that the views on their formation were rather confused, did not explain all the observed phenomena and did not provide reliable criteria for deposit predictions. On the basis of his own experience and knowledge gained from extensive study of the literature, he began to build a new classification system in which deposits are ranked according to their mode of formation (genesis).

It took a great deal of effort, countless working trips, mine excavations, arduous underground and surface observations, their precise organization, critical evaluation and generalization, subsequent creative synthetic deductions and verification, writing publications on the results, and participation in many expert discussions before he could, from his position as a professor at the Mining Academy in Příbram, formulate the laws of the origin of the types of ore deposits found. This enormous workload had a negative impact on his health. He worked at the Mining Academy in Příbram from 1879 to 1889. Already in 1879 he was awarded the title of mining councillor and appointed associate professor of special geology of deposits, in 1882 extraordinary professor and in 1887 full professor of special geology of deposits and analytical chemistry.

He educated a new generation of mining engineers and at the same time devoted himself to the research of the Příbram ore district and other Czech ore districts. At that time, unfortunately, heart disease began to be associated with lung problems. In 1888 he therefore requested a year's leave for health reasons. His health problems finally forced him to retire in 1889. At that time, he was awarded the Order of the Iron Crown for his professional achievements. From Pribram he went to Vienna, where he continued to devote himself to comparative studies of the nature of ore deposits, including numerous excursions to deposits in European Russia, Germany, Italy, Sardinia, France, England, Norway, Sweden and Palestine. However, a deepening heart disease ended his life on 27 March 1895 at the age of 59. He died in Vienna, but he wished to be buried alongside his parents in his native Jilemnice. This is what happened.

An unnoticeable chapter in his rich life journey is his professional work at the Mining Academy in Příbram. The bibliography of František Pošepný exceeded 100 book or magazine titles of scientific treatises. All of his studies were a preparation for a large synthetic work, which was to contain a typology of ore deposits and from it a derivation and theory of their genesis. Of his works, two in particular are still of value today, especially his book "Genesis of ore deposits", first published in 1893 in Chicago, USA, and in Czech in 1927 and 1986, in which he laid out the theory of the development of ore deposits. His second book on Czech gold-ore deposits, published posthumously under the title "Goldvorkommen Böhmens und benachbarten Ländern" in 1895, was only a partial part of the intended work on all ore deposits. Pošepný's researches contributed significantly to the refinement of knowledge in the fields of stratigraphy, regional geology, hydrology and mining. His scientific legacy is also claimed by the current generation of deposit geologists as the founder of the new modern science of ore deposits. All the great scholarly works on deposit geology and its history mention Pošepný's name at the forefront. The works of a number of prominent geologists from all over the world, as well as the research of representatives of Czech geology, were and still are linked to the studies signed with his name. The Czech Academy of Sciences awards a gold and silver plaque bearing the name of František Pošepný for his contribution to the development of geological and geographical sciences.

Prepared by: PaedDr. Josef Velfl, Director of the Mining Museum Příbram