A Magyar Werner – Benkő Ferenc szerepe a magyar nyelvű természettudomány megszületésében
The Hungarian Werner – Ferenc Benkő’s Role in the Birth of Natural Sciences in Hungarian

Summary/Abstract: Ferenc Benkő (1745-1816), Calvinist pastor, later professor of the Collegium of Nagyenyed/Aiud was the first to translate (1782) the book of the influential Freiberg Professor Abraham Gottlob Werner, the Von der äusserlichen Kennzeichen der Fossilien, entitled A köveknek és értzeknek külső megesmértető jegyeikről, published in Kolozsvár/Klausenburg/Cluj in Transylvania in 1784. Werner’s text was enriched with names of mineralogical locations in the Carpathians, based on Benkő’s readings and collecting trips. Among other subjects, Benkő studied mineralogy with Gmelin in Göttingen. His main publication is the Magyar Minerologia (1786), which includes the catalogue of his private mineralogical collection. Benkő created one of the first Hungarian natural history museums at Aiud. His contributions to the establishment of a Hungarian, professional vocabulary of earth sciences are long-lasting.

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