Gabor Paul Kovats-Martiny

* Turopolya, March 4, 1782 – † Bratislava, July 13/19, 1845 / naturalist, physicist, lyceum teacher ; ; His father was an evangelical minister and from 1783 he served in Modor. His son began his studies here, then in 1793–1795 he attended school in Győr, where he also learned the Hungarian language. He then returned to Modor, then studied at the Bratislava Evangelical Lyceum. He was particularly influenced by the physician István Lumnitzer (Bratislava), who often organized botanical excursions in the Bratislava area for local students. Kováts-Martiny also participated in these and gradually developed a liking for natural sciences. In 1803 he went to Vienna, where he attended lectures on natural sciences at the university. In 1805 he continued his studies in Göttingen. He learned a lot about astronomy from Karl Ludwig Harding (1765–1834), the discoverer of the asteroid Juno. He returned to Hungary in 1807. First a grammar school teacher in Modoron, then a principal, from 1817 he taught natural science, universal history, geography, Hebrew and mathematics at the Bratislava Lyceum. He established the Lyceum's natural science collection. He mainly wrote textbooks. In 1823 he participated in the large-scale work of determining geographical longitude, the aim of which was to more accurately determine the map grid of Hungary. He often took his students on botanical excursions, but he also made astronomical observations with telescopes in the old cemetery near his apartment with instruments he had made himself. He made numerous illustrative and experimental instruments for the Lyceum's instrument collection in his own workshop. He added an appendix to his textbooks describing the principles, tools, and methods of surveying and mapping. His teaching methods were not only very modern, but they also had an inspiring effect on the next generation of teachers and scientists. He died while working, in his workshop. ; ; His main works: ; Tabulae altitudinum barometricae…, 1819, ; Compendium matheseos purae…, 1822, ; Compendium physicae…, 1823, ; Oeconomiae ruralis compendium…, 1843.