Background
Xantus was born on October 5, 1825 in Csokonyavisonta, Hungary, the son of Ignaczak Xantus. His ancestors were Greeks who had emigrated to Transylvania in the fifteenth century, receiving there the rank of Hungarian noblemen.
(Book by Xantus, John)
Book by Xantus, John
https://www.amazon.com/Travels-Southern-California-English-Hungarian/dp/0814315704?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0814315704
https://www.amazon.com/Letters-America-Trans-Teodore-Schoenman/dp/B004SIIK2A?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B004SIIK2A
military officer ornithologist Zoologist
Xantus was born on October 5, 1825 in Csokonyavisonta, Hungary, the son of Ignaczak Xantus. His ancestors were Greeks who had emigrated to Transylvania in the fifteenth century, receiving there the rank of Hungarian noblemen.
Xantus was trained as a lawyer and passed the bar examination at Pest in 1847.
Xantus entered the Hungarian national army at the outbreak of the war of independence in 1848, and was first lieutenant of infantry when captured by the Austrians in February 1849. After his release he was again arrested, this time for patriotic utterances at Prague, and forced to serve in the Austrian army. He escaped in 1850 and after many vicissitudes went to the United States at the end of 1851.
Xantus worked first as a laborer, but on December 1, 1852, was engaged as topographer of the Pacific Railroad expedition. For a while he taught Latin, Spanish, and German at New Orleans. In the U. S. he pursued a variety of occupations, including bookseller, druggist, a teacher, and hospital steward in the U. S. Army. In the Army he met Dr. William Alexander Hammond, a collector for the noted zoologist Spencer Fullerton Baird. Working under Hammond as an assistant surgeon, he soon developed an interest in natural history and became a gifted collector himself.
Xantus served as a member of the United States survey expedition to ascertain the most practicable route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean (1855-1857) and then as member of the United States Coast Survey stationed at Fort Tejon and Cape St. Lucas, Califonia. There he made valuable collections of birds for the Smithsonian Institution, discovering many new species, which were named after him.
At the conclusion of his work he was attached to the United States navy and entrusted with the command of another expedition which had as its object the meteorological observation of certain parts of the Pacific Ocean. He finished this in August 1861, having discovered eighty-nine islands and sand banks.
After a short visit in Hungary he was appointed United States consul at Manzanillo, Mexico, and led a scientific research party into the Sierra Madre. In 1864 he took up permanent residence in Hungary. He traveled in eastern Asia on a mission for the Hungarian government in 1869-1871 and returned with extensive collections. He was the keeper of the ethnographical division of the National Museum, Budapest, until his death, which occurred in Hungary on December 13, 1894. His descriptions and catalogues of new species of birds appear in Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (vols. XXII, 1859-1861).
(Book by Xantus, John)
