Johann Coaz

Johann Wilhelm Fortunat Coaz (31 May 1822 – 18 August 1918) was a Swiss forester, topographer and mountaineer from Graubünden. In 1850 he made the first ascent of Piz Bernina, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps. He also gave Piz Bernina its name, after the eponymous pass.

Life Coaz was born in Antwerp in 1822, the son of Wilhelm Johann Coaz, a professional officer, and his wife Salomé née Koehl. He died in Chur in 1918.

Forestry and topography Between 1841 and 1843 he trained at the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry in Tharandt to become a forester, then assumed the role of mountain topographer in Graubünden in the service of the Federal Topographic Bureau. When he was 28 he became private secretary to the topographer Guillaume-Henri Dufour. From 1851 to 1873 he was chief forestry inspector of the cantons of Graubünden and St. Gallen (1873–75). In 1875 Coaz became the first Federal Chief Forestry Inspector, a position he held until 1914. (the species is now considered a hybrid between L. decidua and L. kaempferi). He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bern in 1902.

Mountaineering As a climber and surveyor he made around 30 first ascents in the Alps, mostly in the Bernina Range, the Albula Alps, and the Upper and Lower Engadin. In 1846 he made the first ascent of Piz Kesch on 7 September, and in the same year he made the first ascent of Piz Languard, Piz Surlej, Piz Aguagliols, Piz d'Esen and Piz Lischana. Their route was via "The Labyrinth" and the east ridge. Although all three were surveyors, they left their surveying equipment at the foot of the ridge. In 1850 he made the first recorded ascent of Piz Corvatsch, and of Piz Tschierva (on 18 August).

Commemoration A statue of Coaz was placed outside the Boval Hut to the north-east of Piz Morteratsch in 1922, to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. Designed by Jakob Echenmoser, it is a 16-sided building that replaced an earlier structure and was opened in 1964.