Kornelius Kristianovich August von Reissig

Von Reissig was originally from Kassel in Germany, where he is recorded as a maker of scientific instruments. Sometime after Napoleon annexed the Principality in 1803, he moved to Saint Petersburg. There, he “served as the director of Russia’s Military Academy in St. Petersburg and as an associate member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In addition to his occupation as an astronomer, he was also a mathematician and artist. He was a professor of astronomy and trigonometry in St. Petersburg and headed a workshop that produced instruments used by the Russian military. Some of the instruments included telescopes, barometers and astrolabes, a device used in navigation to predict the positions of the sun, moon and stars. Reissig was interested in promoting art education. He formed a graphic studies program at the St. Petersburg Practical Technological Institute. Students enrolled in the program were trained in both artistic and technical drawing” (Library of Congress, online).