Jean-Charles Houzeau de Lehaie (October 7, 1820 – July 12, 1888)[1] was aBelgianastronomer andjournalist. A French speaker, he moved toNew Orleans after getting in trouble for his politics in Belgium.
In the U.S. he continued his journalistic, astronomical, and political pursuits. He was an abolitionist and joined with unionists in Texas before the American Civil War. InNew Orleans he worked with Dr.Louis Charles Roudanez at the newspapers he founded in the 1860s.
Houzeau migrated toJamaica in the postwar years. After reinstatement from an observatory inBrussels, he returned to Europe to work. He came back to Texas for an astronomical event. He published stirring memoirs and other accounts of his adventures and contacts during his travels, as well as several works on astronomical subjects.
Houzeau was born in 1820 inHavré (a small city nearMons); at the time it was within the Netherlands, and was later included in the independent nation ofBelgium. From 1842, he worked as a voluntary assistant at theBrussels Observatory and began writing papers. He eventually became the observatory's director. He travelled frequently during his career, toParis, theUnited Kingdom,United States,Mexico, andJamaica.
After being removed from the Belgian Royal Observatory for "outspoken political views", Houzeau migrated to the United States. InTexas by 1858, he first worked as a surveyor. He moved toUvalde, where he organized early scientific expeditions.
He believed in the abolition of slavery and aided the escape of some notable unionists fromSan Antonio before the American Civil War. He soon fled to Mexico, disguised as a Mexican laborer for his escape.[2]
Later inNew Orleans, when the city had been taken by Federal forces, he worked with Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez, a physician who founded the bilingualNew Orleans Tribune - La Tribune de la Nouvelle-Orléans in 1864. During a period of fierce intraparty rivalries, Roudanez lost outside support and the newspaper closed after the election in 1868 of a Northern Republican as governor of Louisiana.[3]
Houzeau then migrated to Jamaica, where he lived for eight years. He kept his European contacts and was reinstated as director of the Royal Observatory in Brussels. He returned to Belgium and his work there as an astronomer.
In December 1882, however, Houzeau made a return trip to Texas. He led a scientific expedition, accompanied byAlbert Benoît Lancaster andCharles Emile Stuyvaert, to San Antonio to observe a locally visibletransit of Venus across the face of the sun. At the time, this was a method of measuring time and gravity.[4]
His published works include:
Media related toJean-Charles Houzeau at Wikimedia Commons
Works by or aboutJean-Charles Houzeau atWikisource