Jacob Buchholtz

* Késmárk, December 29, 1696 – † Késmárk, May 14, 1758 / furrier, naturalist, mineral and rock collector ; ; younger brother of György Buchholtz. He began his schooling in Késmárk, then in 1711 he went to Bártfára, where he learned the furrier's craft and the needle-making trade. In 1718 he deepened his knowledge in Elbing, where he met several scholars who aroused his interest in natural sciences. Returning to his hometown, if his work allowed, he often joined his brother and his students on their excursions to the Tatra Mountains. During these wanderings, he collected many hundreds of minerals and rocks, and in 1746 he sent the entire collection to Vienna, to the imperial court. His undisclosed goal was to draw attention to the mineral treasures of his native land. Francis I, the husband of Maria Theresa, entrusted several scholars with the task of visiting Keszthely and thoroughly informing them. Jakab Buchholtz accompanied them to various places in the Spiš region on three occasions and showed them the most important points of interest. They reached as far as the Low Tatras and even visited Breznobánya. In 1751, he wrote a summary of this under the title Reise auf die Karpathischen Gebirge, und in die angränzenden Geschpanschaften, which was published in print in 1787 in the columns of the Ungarisches Magazine. Later, in 1752, he himself visited Vienna and talked with the emperor for an hour and a half. In 1754, he was sent to Transylvania to search for previously undiscovered treasures there as well. He sent a written report on this to Vienna. He continued the family chronicle of his father, György Buchholtz Sr., between 1710 and 1753, and in it he also wrote the history of the Augustini ab Hortis family. This work was only published in 1904, as a supplement to his father's manuscript, entitled Auszug aus dem Tagebuch des Jacob Buchholtz, Sohn des Georg Buchholtz, des Aeltern. In 1752 he prepared a description of the Tatra Mountains, entitled Beschreibung des wundervollen Karpathischen Schnee-Gebirges, which was first published in Bratislava in 1783. His son, György János Buchholtz (Késmárk, May 10, 1724 – ?) often accompanied him on his Tatra excursions, and even went to Vienna with him in 1752. In January 1753, at his father's request, he also took to the emperor Jakab Buchholtz's research diary titled Theatrum Naturae curiosorum regni Hungariae, but no trace of it has been found.