Adam Tanner

Who was Adam Tanner?

Adam Tanner was an Austrian Jesuit professor of mathematics and philosophy.

He was born in Innsbruck, Austria. In 1589 he joined the Society of Jesus and became a teacher. By 1603 he was invited to join the Jesuit College of Ingolstadt and take the chair of theology at the University of Ingolstadt. Fifteen years later he was given a position at the University of Vienna by the Emperor Matthias.

He was noted for his defense of the Catholic church and their practices against Lutheran reformers as well as the Utraquists. His greatest work was the Universa theologia scholastica, published in 1626-1627.

He died at the village of Unken near Salzburg, and rests in an unmarked grave. Apparently the parishioners refused to give him a Christian burial because a "hairy little imp" was found on a glass plate among his possessions.

The crater Tannerus on the Moon is named after him.