Beno Winkler

* Magyarraszlavica, October 25, 1835 – † Selmecbánya, November 10, 1915 / geologist, paleontologist, academic teacher ; ; Born into a noble family with 14 children. He completed his secondary schooling in Bártfa, Kisszeben, Prešov and Košice. Between 1854 and 1857, he studied mining and metallurgy at the Selmecbánya Mining and Forestry Academy. Professor János Pettkó (Drétoma) introduced him to geology and paleontology. In 1863, he became a colleague of the Imperial and Royal Geological Institute in Vienna and delved into geological mapping. In 1864, he independently conducted geological surveys in the areas between the Nitra and Zsitva rivers and in the Tribecs Mountains. In 1865 he was already working on the exploration of coal deposits in Transylvania, in the Zsil valley. He reported on these researches in the Mining and Metallurgical Journals in 1870 (On the Zsilvölgyi Coal Basin, 1870/3., p. 51–55.). In 1869 he became an assistant geologist at the then-founded Hungarian Geological Institute, and was then elected the first secretary of the Geological Society and was also entrusted with the editing of the Geological Bulletin. He also appeared as an author in the journal (e.g. Geological Creation of the Székesfehérvár-Velencei Mountains, 1871, Conditions of the Verespatak Gold Mining, 1879). In 1871, he spent a few months in Berlin to deepen his professional knowledge and succeed János Pettkó, who was retiring, as the head of the Department of Mineralogy, Geology and Paleontology at the Selmecbánya Academy. He taught there for 27 years from 1871. He was one of the discoverers of the copper ore called úrvölgyite, which was named after the nearby Úrvölgy deposit. He systematized and significantly expanded the mineral collection of the Selmec Academy, which numbered nearly 4,750 pieces when he retired.