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Ferdinand Verbiest

* 1623 Pittem, Belgium
+ 1688 Beijing

   

Ferdinand Verbiest

Father Ferdinand Verbiest was a Flemish Jesuit missionary in China during the Qing dynasty.
He is known as Nan Huairen in Chinese. He was an accomplished mathematician and astronomer
and proved to the court of the Kangxi Emperor that European astronomy was more accurate than Chinese astronomy.
He then corrected the Chinese calendar and was later asked to rebuild and re-equip the Beijing Ancient Observatory,
being given the role of Head of the Mathematical Board and Director of the Observatory.

J. Giesen

zuletzt geändert: 2022