Andrew Planta

Andrew Joseph Planta, also known as Andreas Joseph von Planta (1717–1773) was a Swiss Reformed pastor who emigrated to England, where he became librarian at the British Museum. He was born in Susch, studied theology in Zürich and worked as pastor in the Italian-speaking Protestant parish of Castasegna. He published an Italian psalter and book of prayers in 1740. In 1745, he obtained an MA degree at the University of Erlangen.

After working as an educator at the court in Ansbach, he moved to London in 1752 to take up the post of pastor of the German Reformed congregation. He became assistant librarian at the British Museum in 1758, reader and tutor to Queen Charlotte in the 1760s and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1770. Several of his daughters worked as governesses at court or in noble families. His son Joseph Planta succeeded him at the British Museum and later became its principal librarian.