Varasd, Horvát Királyság, currently Varaždin, Croatia — December 22, 1716
According to another source: December 23, 1716 — Trencsén
Death data:
Quito, Ecuador — June 24, 1755
According to another source: Trinidad
Denomination:
Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status:
religious
Diocese / Order:
jezsuita (Societas Jesu)
Ordination level:
priest
Entry into religious life:
Bécs, Osztrák Birodalom, currently Austria — October 27, 1733
Biographical data
Ferenc Xavér Haller was born on December 22, 1716, in Varasd. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1733; according to sources, either on October 27 in Trenčín or on November 3 in Vienna. He completed his novitiate in Vienna. In 1736, he studied at a teacher training college in Zagreb; from 1737, he studied logic, metaphysics, and physics in Graz, and subsequently studied and taught in Zagreb, Varasd, Graz, and Vienna. Between 1744 and 1747, he studied theology in Nagyszombat; in 1748, he completed his tertianship in Besztercebánya; and from 1749 to 1750, he taught mathematics in Ljubljana.
Later sources often confused him with the Jesuit József Haller, and they also misinterpreted the designation “Quito.” Ferenc Xavér Haller was included in the preparations for the Spanish–Portuguese border expedition not merely as a missionary in Quito, but as a Jesuit scholar, due to his knowledge of mathematics and astronomy. He arrived in Cumaná in 1754 and subsequently worked in the Orinoco–Guayana region. In May or on June 24, 1755, somewhere between Trinidad and Guayana, he died of a tropical fever.
Domestic service locations
From
To
Place i
Current name, country i
Church / institution
Position
1740
Zágráb, Horvát Királyság
Zagreb, Croatia
catechism and grammar teacher
1741
Varasd, Horvát Királyság
Varaždin, Croatia
humanities teacher
1742
Graz, Osztrák Birodalom
Austria
studies mathematics
1743
Bécs, Osztrák Birodalom
Austria
studies mathematics
1744
1747
Nagyszombat, Kingdom of Hungary
Trnava, Slovakia
theological studies
1748
Besztercebánya, Kingdom of Hungary
Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
third
1749
1750
Ljubljana, Krajna Hercegség
Slovenia
mathematics professor
Foreign service locations
From
To
Place
Current name, country
Church / institution
Position
1750
1753 circa
Lisszabon, Portugal
university professor, mathematician, Jesuit scholar; preparations for a border expedition
1753 circa
Sevilla, Spain
Preparations for the Spanish–Portuguese border expedition
1753 circa
Quito, Ecuador
geographer, astronomer, and cartographer on the border expedition (Cumaná, Trinidad, Orinoco–Guayana region)
Haller Xavér Ferenc SJ: personal record. In: Historical directory of Hungarian, Hungarian-descended, and Hungarian-speaking clergy serving abroad. Available at: https://www.diaszporalelkipasztorok.hu/persons_v2/view.php?id=364 (accessed: 2026-07-07).
Last modified: May 21, 2026 10:33 |
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