Johann Baptist Messerschmitt was born December 9, 1861, of well‐to‐do parents in the Bavarian town of Bamberg. He died April 13, 1912, after a life of unusual activity, in which his devotion to the chosen work, his great executive ability, and valuable scientific publications gave him an honored place in the scientific world.His early education began at the Latin school in Bamberg, from which he went to the Realgymnasium in Würzburg, and later to the Technical High School in Zürich, and finally to Leipzig. Already enthusiastic in the study of science, and more particularly of astronomy, he accepted a position, without salary, in the Astrophysical Observatory at Potsdam, where he began his scientific labors under the late Prof. H. C. Vogel.