Ferdinand Augustin Hallerstein, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Ferdinand Augustin Hallerstein

Jesuit missionary

Date of Birth: 18-Aug-1703

Place of Birth: Ljubljana, Ljubljana City Municipality, Slovenia

Date of Death: 29-Oct-1774

Profession: astronomer, mathematician, monk, demographer

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Ferdinand Augustin Haller von Hallerstein (Slovene: Ferdinand Avguštin Haller von Hallerstein; 27 August 1703 – 29 October 1774), also known as August Allerstein or by his Chinese name Liu Songling (simplified Chinese: ???; traditional Chinese: ???; pinyin: Liú Songlíng), was a Jesuit missionary and astronomer from Carniola (then Habsburg Monarchy, now Slovenia).
He was active in 18th century China and spent 35 years at the imperial court of the Qianlong Emperor as the Head of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau and Board of Mathematics.
He created an armillary sphere with rotating rings at the Beijing Observatory and was the first demographer in China who precisely calculated the exact number of Chinese population of the time (198,214,553).
He also participated in Chinese cartography, serving concurrently as a missionary, "cultural ambassador" and mandarin between 1739 and 1774.