Alexander Friedrich Michael Lebrecht Nikolaus Arthur Graf von Keyserling (15 August 1815 – 8 May 1891) was a Baltic German

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

from the Keyserlingk family of Baltic German nobility.

Career

Alexander von Keyserling was born on at the Kabillen Manor, ,

Courland Governorate The Courland Governorate, also known as the Province of Courland, Governorate of Kurland (german: Kurländisches Gouvernement; russian: Курля́ндская губерния, translit=Kurljándskaja gubernija; lv, Kurzemes guberņa; lt, K ...

(in present-day Kabile, Kuldīga Municipality,

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

), then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

. His father was Count Heinrich Diedrich Wilhelm von Keyserling, 3rd Count of Rautenburg, was a spokesman, and in Courland, his mother was Baroness Anna Amalie Benigna . His family was of

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

n origin and was originated in

Herford Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford. Geography Geographic locat ...

, they were considered part of the ''

Uradel (, German: "ancient nobility"; adjective or ) is a genealogical term introduced in late 18th-century Germany to distinguish those families whose noble rank can be traced to the 14th century or earlier. The word stands opposed to '' Briefadel'', ...

'', or old nobility. The first ever mentioned member was Albert Keserlink (1443-1467 or 1468), the mayor of

. Alexander belonged to the ''House of Rautenburg- Telsen-Paddern'', which was a subdivided branch of the Prussian comital branch. The branch's founder Dietrich II von Keyserling, Herr auf und , was elevated to

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

in 1786. Dietrich's father Heinrich Christian also inherited the title of ''Count of Rautenburg'', although Alexander didn't inherit the title since he was the 10th child in the family, his elder brother Otto Ulrich Johann inherited the title. Alexander studied at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

, here he met with future

German Chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...

and

John Lothrop Motley John Lothrop Motley (April 15, 1814 – May 29, 1877) was an American author and diplomat. As a popular historian, he is best known for his works on the Netherlands, the three volume work ''The Rise of the Dutch Republic'' and four volume ''His ...

, with whom he became lifelong friends. Alexander is considered to be one of the founders of Russian geology. He made many expeditions on behalf of

Nicholas I of Russia , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

, northern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, and the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

(1839-1846). He was also a

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

who wrote ''Die wirbelthiere Europa's'' (''

Vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with ...

s of Europe'') with Johann Heinrich Blasius. This work was published in 1840. Alexander's nephews include diplomat Heinrich von Keyserlingk and writer

Eduard von Keyserling Johann Heinrich Eduard Nicolaus Graf von Keyserling (May 14, 1855 – September 28, 1918) was a Baltic German fiction writer and dramatist, an exponent of literary impressionism and associated with the historic region of Courland. Biography ...

. Archibald von Keyserling, the first leader of the Latvian Navy, was his brother Eduard Ernst Hermann von Keyserling's grandson. Philosopher Hermann von Keyserling was his grandson.

Evolution

Keyserling was an advocate of the

transmutation of species Transmutation of species and transformism are unproven 18th and 19th-century evolutionary ideas about the change of one species into another that preceded Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. The French ''Transformisme'' was a term used ...

. In 1853, he wrote an article which suggested that species arose from the activity of "alien molecules" acting on the embryo. He believed that such molecules were transported by miasma.Rogers, James Allen (1973). "The Reception of Darwin's Origin of Species by Russian Scientists". ''

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

'' 64 (4): 484-503. In the third edition of ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

'' published in 1861,

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

added a ''Historical Sketch'' that acknowledged the ideas of Keyserling.Darwin C"> Darwin C
(1861). ''The Origin of Species'' Preface to the Third Edition. Darwin sent a copy of his book to Keyserling who was skeptical about the role of natural selection in evolution. By 1886, however, he embraced most of Darwin's ideas claiming "I renounced my views which contradicted Darwin's theory, and I consider that the changes of the embryo arise not by means of external action of certain molecules but by the influence of selection and heredity."

Legacy

Keyserling is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of gecko, ''Teratoscincus keyserlingii''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Keyserling", p. 140).

References

Sources

* * (de) {{DEFAULTSORT:Keyserling, Alexander 1815 births 1891 deaths People from Kuldīga Municipality People from Courland Governorate Baltic German people from the Russian Empire Paleontologists from the Russian Empire Geologists from the Russian Empire 19th-century botanists from the Russian Empire Zoologists from the Russian Empire Explorers from the Russian Empire German arachnologists Demidov Prize laureates Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Proto-evolutionary biologists 19th-century German zoologists

Career

Evolution

Legacy

See also

References

Sources