Milne, John

Japanese: ミルン - Ｍｉｌｎｅ，Ｊｏｈｎ

Year of death: 1913.7.31 (1913.7.31)
Born: 1850.12.30
A foreigner employed in Japan during the Meiji period. A British seismologist. Born in Liverpool. After graduating from King's College, University of London, he studied at the Royal School of Mines, and then traveled to the Freiberg School of Mines in Germany, where he participated in geological and mining surveys in various parts of Europe. As a mining engineer with a strong sense of exploration, when invited by the Ministry of Public Works, he traveled alone overland via Siberia for nearly six months and arrived in Japan in March 1876 (Meiji 9), but there were times during that time when he lost contact with anyone. He taught mining and metallurgy at the Engineering School (later the Imperial College of Engineering), and continued to be employed as a teacher even after the school was merged with the University of Tokyo, returning to Japan in June 1893. He experienced an earthquake in Tokyo on the day of his arrival in Japan, which became the catalyst for his devotion to the study of seismology. He conducted surveys of volcanoes in various places, such as Mt. Mihara and Mt. Aso, and field surveys of the Great Nobi Earthquake, and taught Fusakichi Omori and others. In 1813, the Seismological Society of Japan was founded at the suggestion of Milne. After returning to Japan, he established the Scheid seismological observatory on the Isle of Wight at the mouth of the Thames and continued his research. His main work is "Seismology" (1898). During his stay in Japan, he married Tone Horikawa, a graduate of the Colonization Agency Girls' School, but after Milne's death, his wife returned to her hometown of Hakodate to spend the rest of her life, where she passed away in 1925. <References> Knott, "The Englishman Who Supported Meiji Japan - A Biography of the Seismologist Milne" (translated by Tatsuo Usami)

(Nobuhiro Miyoshi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：1913.7.31(1913.7.31)
生年：1850.12.30
明治期に来日したお雇い外国人。イギリス人地震学者。リバプール生まれ。ロンドン大学キングス・カレッジを卒業後王立鉱山学校に学び,さらにドイツのフライベルク鉱山学校に遊学し,ヨーロッパ各地の地質・鉱山調査に参加。探検心の旺盛な鉱山技師であったため,工部省の招きに際しては,単身シベリア経由の陸路を経て半年近くかけて明治9(1876)年3月日本にきたが,その間一時音信不通となったこともある。工学寮(のち工部大学校)で採鉱学や冶金学を教え,同校が東大に併合後も雇い継がれて教師を勤め,28年6月に帰国した。来日の日に東京で地震に遭ったことが機縁となって地震学の研究に没頭した。三原山や阿蘇山など各地の火山調査や濃尾大地震の現地調査などをし,大森房吉らを教えた。13年にはミルンの提唱によって日本地震学会が発会している。帰国後はテームズ河口のワイト島にシャイド地震観測所を設けて調査を続けた。主著に《Seismology》(1898)がある。滞日中,開拓使女学校出身の堀川トネと結婚したが,ミルン死没後,夫人は郷里の函館に帰って余生を送り,大正14(1925)年に死去した。<参考文献>ノット『明治日本を支えた英国人―地震学者ミルン伝』(宇佐美竜夫訳)

(三好信浩)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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