Struve family
The Struve family were a dynasty of five generations of astronomers from the 18th to 20th centuries. Members of the family were also prominent in chemistry, government and diplomacy.
Origins
The first astronomer member of the family was Jacob Struve (1755-1841) of Altona, Germany. In 1783 he married Maria Emerentia Wiese (1764-1847). Their children were:
- Carl Struve (1785-1838)
- Ernst Struve (1786-1822)
- Gustav Struve (1788-1829)
- Christina Struve (1791-1853)
- Friedrich Georg Wilhelm (von) Struve (1793-1864)
- Ludwig Struve (1795-1828)
- Johanna Struve (1797-1871)
In 1808 Jacob Struve brought the family to Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) in the Russian Empire to avoid conscription in the Napoleonic armies. His fourth son, Friedrich Georg Wilhelm, taught at the University of Dorpat from 1813 and full professor and director of Dorpat Observatory from 1820. Ennobled by Tsar Nicholas I, at his request he supervfised construction of Pulkovo Observatory, of which he was director from 1839 to 1862.
Friedrich Georg Wilhelm married Emilie Wall (1796-1834) in 1815. They had 12 children, including the following:
- Otto Wilhelm von Struve (1819-1905), astonomer
- Heinrich von Struve (1822-1908), chemist
- Bernhard Vasilyevich Struve (1827-1889), government official in Siberia and later governor of Perm and Astrakhan.
Following the death of his first wife, he married Johanna Henrietta Francisca Barthels (1807-1867). They had six children, including Karl von Struve (1835-1907), diplomat.
Otto Wilhelm von Struve line
Otto Wilhelm von Struve (1819-1905) was director of Polkovo Observatory from 1862 to 1889. He married 1) Emilie Dyrssen (1823-1868); 2)Emma Jankowsky (1839-1902). His children were:
- Karl Hermann Struve (1854-1820), astronomer; moved to Germany 1895
- Gustav Ludwig Struve (1858-1920), astronomer
- Emilie Bathalie Wilhelmine Struve (1874-1965)
Karl Hermann Struve had a son, Georg Otto Hermann Struve (1886-1933), who was also an astronomer. Georg Otto Hermann had two sons, Wilfriend Struve (1914-1992) and Rheinhard Struve (1919-1943).
Gustav Ludiwig Struve and his wife, Elizaveta, had a son Otto Struve (1897-1963), who was a prominent astronomer in the United States following the Russian Revolution. Otto Struve married Mary Martha Lanning in 1925, but there were no children.
Bernard Vasilyevich Struve line
Berhard Vasilyevich Struve (1827-1889) was a government official in Siberia before serving in turn as governor of Perm and Astrakhan. He was the father of:
- Vasily Berngardovich Struve (1854-1912)
- Peter Berngardovich Struve (1870-1944), political economist, philosopher and editor
- Alexander Berngardovich Struve, confidential secretary
Vasily Berngardovich Struve married Borisa Alexandrovna Turaeva (1868-1920). They were the parents of Vasily Vasilevich Struve (1889-1965), academic.
Peter Berngardovich Struve emigrated to France following the Russian Revolution. He was the father of:
- Gleb Petrovich Struve (1898-1985), poet and literary historian
- Aleksey Petrovich Struve
- Konstantin Petrovich Struve (1903-1948)
- Arkadiy Petrovich Struve (1905-1951)
Aleksey Petrovich Struve married Ekaterina Andreevna Katuar. Their children were:
- Peter Struve (1925-1968)
- Nikita Struve (b. 1931), professor and editor of several Russian-language periodicals in Europe.
Karl von Struve line
Karl von Struve (1835-1907) was Russian minister to the United States (1882-1892) and the Netherlands (1892-1904). He and his wife, Maria Nikolaevna Annenkova (1844-1889) were the parents of:
- Boris de Struve
- Vera de Struve (1876-1949)
- Olga de Struve
- Helene de Struve
- Maria de Struve