Johann Philipp Neumann

Johann Philipp Neumann (27 December 1774 – 3 October 1849) was an Austrian physicist, librarian and poet.

Johann Philipp Neumann
Born	27 December 1774 Trebitsch, Moravia
Died	3 October 1849 Vienna, Austria
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Academic work
Institutions	University of Graz Polytechnic Institute

Born in Trebitsch in Moravia, he completed his studies at the University of Vienna. In 1803, he was appointed as a professor of physics at his local lyceum. He was transferred to the University of Graz in 1806, where he became a rector in 1811.

In 1815, he was appointed as a professor at the Polytechnic Institute in Vienna (now the Vienna University of Technology). He founded a library there in 1816, which he directed until 1845.

Neumann was a friend of the composer Franz Schubert.^[1] Neumann adapted Georg Forster's translation of Shakuntala as a libretto for an opera, which Schubert commenced in 1820 but never completed.^[2] Neumann, a liberal-minded churchman, was interested in simple music designed to appeal to "the widest possible congregation".^[2] To this end, he wrote the text of eight hymns and a translation of the Lord's Prayer, and commissioned the Deutsche Messe from his friend Schubert in 1826.

He retired in 1844, and died in Vienna in 1849.