Maximilianus Hell (1720-1792) - Munin

observatory in Tyrnavia the year after. 226 It was from there that Sajnovics arrived in Vienna
shortly before the outset of the expedition to resume his role as an assistant of the Imperial
Astronomer, this time during his expedition to the Far North. 227
Why Sajnovics was chosen as an assistant for the expedition is something of a puzzle. Two
explanations surface in the literature, each of which have their basis in primary sources. In the
introductory chapter to the Expeditio litteraria (edited below), Maximilianus Hell states the
obvious, that Sajnovics was chosen because of his likable personality, his good health and his
astronomical skills. Elsewhere, however, a contradictory explanation is given, which calls for
some consideration. In contrast to Father Hell himself, Sajnovics’ mother tongue was
Hungarian. During his stay in Finnmark County of Norway, Sajnovics undertook a thorough
examination of the “Lappish” (Sámi) language, which he published in Copenhagen as a
Demonstratio Idioma Ungarorum et Lapponum idem esse (‘Demonstration that the Language
of the Hungarians and the Lapps is the Same’, 1770a1). This investigation, usually referred to
simply as the Demonstratio, has became a veritable classic of comparative linguistics.
Already in the 1770s and 1780s, it received considerable attention. In the text of the
Demonstratio, we find the explanation that Sajnovics was chosen as Hell’s travel companion
because he was to investigate a possible linguistic link between the Sámi language and his
native Hungarian.
In the first, Copenhagen edition of the Demonstratio, Father Hell is acknowledged for having
asked Sajnovics to undertake this research, for pointing out certain methodological guidelines
for his interviews with native Sámi speakers and for never allowing him to give up even
though the task proved difficult. The second, enlarged edition of the Demonstratio, published
in Tyrnavia upon Sajnovics’ return from his expedition, goes even further. Hell is now
credited with having been present during interviews with local Sámi in Vardø. And amongst
several other additions, we find a long letter from Hell to Sajnovics arguing for a probable
heritage of the “Hungarian dialects” (one would now say Finno-Ugrian languages) from
226 In the Ephemerides of Hell, Sajnovics is mentioned among the observers in Tyrnavia from January 1767
onwards (Hell, “Observationes Astronomicæ Anni 1766. Viennæ & aliis locis ab exercitatis Observatoribus
factæ” 1767b, pp. 272-276).
227 Key dates from Sajnovics’ early career are taken from Kisbán 1943 and Erdődi 1970 and supplemented by the
Ephemerides of Hell and the Jesuit catalogues Austria. Catalogi Breves 1763-1765 and 1766-1769.
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