Alexander von Humboldt (✝︎)

Alexander von Humboldt was born in Berlin on 14 September 1769, the second son of Georg von Humboldt, a Prussian officer from Pomerania, and his wife, Marie Elizabeth von Holwede, née Colomb. His older brother, Wilhelm, was born in Potsdam in 1767. The brothers grew up at Schloss Tegel and received their education from private tutors, including the author, editor, and educator Joachim Heinrich Campe. Alexander and Wilhelm’s father died in 1779, leaving their twice-widowed mother to bring them up alone.
Academically, the young Alexander lagged behind his brother and was even regarded as resistant to learning. However, he loved spending time with people, who interested him, such as the botanist Carl Ludwig Wildenow, who owned a collection of tropical plants. It was Wildenow, who first sparked Humboldt’s interest in botany.

Humboldt remained unmarried throughout his life and had no children. He corresponded with many prominent figures, including the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauß, the linguists Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the philosopher August Wilhelm Schlegel and the poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. This gave him access to a wider range of knowledge. Today, he is regarded as a pioneer of interconnectedness and globalised science.

Alexander von Humboldt died on 6 May 1859 in Berlin and was laid to rest in the family grave in Tegel.

Even today, his name is still known throughout the world. Monuments in his hometown of Berlin, in New York’s Central Park and in the Humboldt Park in Chicago, among other places, commemorate the eminent scientist. Animals (Humboldt penguin), plants (Humboldt lily), mushrooms (Amanita humboldtii Singer) and many geographical formations such as ranges (Humboldt Mountains in Antarctica), mountains (Mount Humboldt in New Zealand) and places (in the USA) were named after him. Since 1949, the Humboldt University of Berlin has borne his name, and a statue in front of the building pays tribute to him.

The German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation based in Bonn sponsors academic cooperation between outstanding researchers from Germany and abroad and honours distinguished scientists with the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award. Since 2008, the Foundation has also been awarding the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, the most highly endowed research prize in Germany.

The Humboldt Forum, which was named in honour of Alexander and his brother Wilhelm, was opened for virtual tours in 2020 and became accessible to the public in 2021. It provides a platform for a wide range of scientific and artistic exhibitions and public events.

Alexander von Humboldt began studying cameralism at the University of Frankfurt (Oder) Alma Mater Viadrina in Brandenburg in 1787, where he also attended classes in ancient history, medicine, physics, and mathematics. Deeming their studies insufficiently challenging, he and his brother Wilhelm left Viadrina after only one semester. Alexander returned to Berlin to further his academic interest in botany. In April 1789, he commenced his studies in jurisprudence at the University of Göttingen, at the time a prominent hub of the Enlightenment movement. In 1791, he relocated to Freiberg in Saxony, where he studied natural science and mining. After graduating, he worked for the Prussian government as mining assessor from 1792 to 1796. In 1793, Humboldt founded a mining school (Freie Königliche Bergschule) in Bad Steben, a small town in the Franconian Forest thereby introducing formal mining training to Germany.

Following his mother’s death in 1796, he inherited part of her estate, which allowed him to resign from civil service and resume his expeditions. However, the Napoleonic Wars repeatedly forced Humboldt to change his plans.

In 1798, he travelled to Spain and, after an audience with King Charles IV, was granted permission to travel to the Spanish colonies. In 1799, he embarked on a five-year journey to America together with the French natural scientist Aimé Bonpland, who would become a member of the Leopoldina in 1857. In addition to studying animals and plants, Humboldt measured the terrestrial magnetism and climbed the Chimborazo Mountain in Ecuador to an altitude of 5,850 metres. The Latin American statesman Simón Bolívar, The Liberator, described him as “true discoverer of America”.

Upon his return to Europe in 1804, which was publicly celebrated, then spent most of his time in Paris, processing the data from his expeditions. A year later, he began work on his 36-volume account documenting his voyage, entitled “Voyage aux régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent fait en 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804 par Alexandre de Humboldt et Aimé Bonpland”.

In 1807, Humboldt relocated to Paris permanently and began work on Geography of Plants, dedicating its first edition to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who would be elected a Member of the Leopoldina in 1818. In 1808, Humboldt published his book “Views of Nature”. In 1827, he returned to Berlin to be an adviser to the King of Prussia. He also gave scientific “Cosmos” lectures at the local university. The institution had launched its teaching program in 1810, supported by Alexander von Humboldt’s brother, Wilhelm. Humboldt’s lectures soon started drawing large crowds.

In 1829, at the request of the Russian tsar, Humboldt set off on another great voyage, through the Baltics to Moscow, the Urals and Siberia, all the way to the Chinese border. The exploits of his travels were recorded in the book entitled “Asie Centrale”, published in 1843/44.
In London in 1837, Humboldt met the British evolutionary researcher Charles Darwin, who would also be elected to the Leopoldina in 1857. Darwin later described his contemporary as the “greatest scientific traveller who ever lived”. In 1842, Humboldt was elected chancellor of the newly founded Order Pour le Mérite. In 1845, he published his first volume in the series entitled “Cosmos – A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe”, followed by four additional volumes, the final one appearing three years posthumously.

Alexander von Humboldt received numerous awards for scientific work, including the Order of the Black Eagle, the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown, the Grand Cross of the Brazilian Order of the Rose, the Grand Cross of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog, the Grand Cross of the French Legion of Honour, the Grand Cross of the Mexican Order of Guadeloupe, the Grand Cross of the Portuguese Military Order of Christ, the Russian Order of Alexander Nevsky, and the Order of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Cross of Saxon Order of Merit, the Grand Cross of the Weimar Order of the White Falcon, the Grand Cross of Sardinian Order of Saints Maurice, and Lazarus, the Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Charles III as well as the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in London. In 1856, Humboldt was made an honorary citizen of Berlin.

He was a member of several academies, such as the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina), the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the Academy of Public Sciences.