page_title: Otto Wilhelm von Struve
section_title: Administration
hierarchical_section_title: Otto Wilhelm von Struve / Administration
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Otto Wilhelm von Struve (1819-1905)Lëtzebuergesch: Otto Wilhelm von StruveРусский: Портрет астронома Отто Васильевича Струве
context_page_description: Otto Wilhelm von Struve was a Baltic German astronomer. In Russian, his name is normally given as Otto Vasil'evich Struve. Together with his father, Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, Otto Wilhelm von Struve is considered a prominent 19th century astronomer who headed the Pulkovo Observatory between 1862 and 1889 and was a leading member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
context_section_description: Around 1845, von Struve's father withdrew from most management activities at the Pulkovo Observatory and focused on individual research. From then on, most of administrative duties fell on von Struve, especially in 1858 when his father was gravely ill. With his father's retirement in 1862, Otto officially became director and kept that position for 27 years until 1889. In the mid-1860s, the son's health deteriorated as well, to the point that neither he nor his physician hoped for recovery. However, instead of retiring, von Struve spent a full winter on leave in Italy and managed to restore his health.
  Struve remained a top authority at the Russian Academy and his requests, e.g. regarding staff appointments were always granted. The first refusal, in 1887, disappointed Struve so much that he applied for resignation and was stopped from that only by the Tsar Alexander III, who requested Struve to keep his posts until the 50th anniversary of the Pulkovo Observatory in 1889.
  For most of those years, the working language of the Pulkovo Observatory was German, as the staff members were largely foreigners. Struve had only limited command of Russian, yet he used it whenever possible.
caption: 1886 portrait of Struve by Ivan Kramskoi.
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