Franz Sartori

Franz Sartori (7 March 1782 – 31 March 1832) was an Austrian writer. Primarily writing on the subjects of topography and geography, he was one of the most prolific writers of Biedermeier Vienna.

Biography Sartori was born on 7 March 1782 in Unzmarkt in Styria, a region of Austria. His father was a servant of Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg. He studied philosophy at the University of Graz.

In February 1806 he went to University of Vienna and in 1807 he obtained a doctorate in medicine. In 1808, he took a degree in botany at the University of Erlangen. Sartori took many trips around the Austrian Alps and wrote often on them. He was held in high esteem by Archduke John of Austria, fellow promoter of those Alps, and his large travel journal Neueste Reisen durch Oesterreich was dedicated to the Archduke. His travel writings have not been very well received, mostly regarded as uncritical compilations from previous sources. His most acclaimed work, the Historisch-ethnographische Uebersicht, was intended as an overview of the intellectual culture of Austria, but it was left unfinished because of his premature death. The only volume published concerns the non-German literature of Austria.

Sartori died in Vienna on 31 March 1832, aged 50.

Works

Naturwunder des österreichischen Kaiserthumes. 1807/1809 (4 volumes) Länder- und Völker-Merkwürdigkeiten des österreichischen Kaiserthumes. 1809 (4 volumes) Lebensbeschreibungen berühmter Helden. 1809 Neueste Reise durch Österreich. 1807 Taschenbuch für Marienbads Curgäste. 1819 Oesterreichs Tibur, oder Natur- und Kunstgemählde aus dem oesterreichischen Kaiserthume. 1819 Historisch-ethnographische Uebersicht der wissenschaftlichen Cultur, Geistesthätigkeit und Litteratur des österr. Kaiserthums nach seinen mannigfaltigen Sprachen und deren Bildungsstufen. 1830 (1 volume, unfinished)