University biographical mosaics – Leopold Fischer

Two hundred and fifty years ago, in 1773, Pope Clement XIII dissolved the Jesuit order, accelerating the process of the university's transfer to the state. Between 1635 and 1773, many distinguished Jesuits of great knowledge taught at our university, leaving a lasting mark on the history of the institution. In April our feature is on the founder of our university’s medal collection, Leopold Fischer.  

Leopold Fischer was born in Vienna in 1703 and entered the Jesuit order in 1718. After completing his studies, he taught in Vienna, Passau, Linz and Sopron. From 1747 he was the librarian of the Viennese monastery. In 1753, he donated his medal collection to the University of Nagyszombat, thereby creating the first numismatic collection used for educational purposes in Europe. When the coin museum was founded, it contained 1842 coins, of which Lipót Fischer prepared a detailed catalog between 1762 and 1763. Fischer also made three medal storage cabinets to house the collection.  The medal collection was kept in the University Library until 1817, and today, it is preserved in the Institute of Archeology of the Faculty of Humanities.

Source/author of illustration:
ELTE BTK Institute of Archeological Science