HALLERSTEIN, AUGUSTIN von. - Jesuit, missionary, and astronomer, b. at Ljubljana on 27 Aug. 1703, d. at Peking on 29 Oct. 1774. Already during the journey to China (1735-39) he had occasion to exercise his zeal at Lisbon, Mozambique, Goa, and Malacca; upon his arrival in Peking, preceded by his reputation as a mathematician, he was invited by the Emperor to court, made a Mandarin of the 2nd degree, and a member of the Tribunal of Mathematics, of which he was later appointed president after the death of Fr. I. Kögler. He also served as Visitor (1751-1758) and twice as Provincial (1757-62; 1766-73) of the Chinese mission. He made use of the prestige he enjoyed with the Emperor chiefly to mitigate the harsh application of persecution laws. He died of an apoplectic stroke upon hearing of the suppression of the Society of Jesus.
He undertook many scientific journeys for topographical surveys and compiled a considerable number of works on mathematics, astronomy, and cartography, some alone and others in cooperation with Frs. I. Kögler and A. Pereira. His works, almost all of which are presented in extensive letters—through which he maintained contact not only with fellow Fathers but also with the leading scientists of Europe—were published largely in the *Philosophical Transactions* (London 1746-52); *Novi Commentarii Academiae Petropolitanae*... for the year 1762-63 (pp. 503-12); *Nova acta Academiae Petropolitanae* (Hist. j. p. 70 ff.; [Memor.], p. 630 ff.); and in the *Mémoires concernant l’histoire des Chinois* (IX, p. 440 ff.); M. Hell, *Observationes astronomicae, ab a. 1717 ad a. 1752 a patribus S. J. factae et a p. A. H... collectae* (Vienna 1768, p. 382 ff.), as well as in various other works concerning China.