Sebastian Albert Freiherr von Sack (

1757 Events January–March * January 2 – Seven Years' War: The British East India Company Army, under the command of Robert Clive, captures Calcutta, India. * January 5 – Robert-François Damiens makes an unsuccessful assa ...

– August 1829) was a German explorer and a chamberlain of Prussian nobility. In June 1821 he was honored with the title of Graf (count). He was born in Eichholz,

Liegnitz Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. L ...

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. In 1805 he travelled to Surinam, where he made observations of the fauna, flora and local customs of the population. On his return journey back to Europe, he visited

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, et al. As a result of his travels he published ''Beschreibung einer Reise nach Surinam und des Aufenthaltes daselbst in den Jahren 1805, 1806, 1807 sowie von Rückkehr des Verfassers nach Europa über Nord-Amerika''. In 1810 this treatise was translated into English as "A narrative of a voyage to Surinam; of a residence there during 1805-1807; and of the authors return to Europe by the way of North America". In 1817 Baron von Sack undertook a scientific mission to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

with poet

Wilhelm Müller Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Müller (7 October 1794 – 30 September 1827) was a German lyric poet, best known as the author of ''Die schöne Müllerin'' (1821) and ''Winterreise'' (1823). These would later be the source of inspiration for two song cy ...

(1794–1827), and in 1820, on an expedition with Austrian consul Georg Christian Gropius (1781–1854), he procured the "

Fragment from the tomb of Nikarete The Fragment from the tomb of Nikarete from the third quarter of the fourth century BC, found near Athens is displayed today in the Antikensammlung of the Altes Museum in Berlin. Description The 117 cm high and 59 cm wide fragment of a grave r ...

" in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. This antiquity is now housed in the ''

Antikensammlung The Antikensammlung Berlin (Berlin antiquities collection) is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It contains thousands of ancient archaeologica ...

'' in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In 1824 he accompanied William Bullock (1773–1849) and

Ferdinand Deppe Paul Ferdinand Deppe known mostly as Ferdinand Deppe (20 October 1795 – 3 February 1861) was a German naturalist, explorer and painter. He was the younger brother of Wilhelm Deppe, an accountant with the Berlin Zoological Museum. A number of sp ...

(1794–1861) to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in order to collect

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

specimens for the Berlin Museum. He died in

. A species of Mexican lizard, ''

Aspidoscelis sackii ''Aspidoscelis sackii'', known Common name, commonly as Sack's spotted whiptail, is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Teiidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to Mexico. There are three recognized subspecies. Taxonomy The Spec ...

'', is named in his honor.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Sack", p. 231).

Notes and references

External links

The Quarterly Review, A Narrative of a Voyage to Surinam, etc.

Sources

* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

''. 18th-century German explorers Counts in Germany 1757 births 1820 deaths People from Prussian Silesia Explorers from the Kingdom of Prussia 19th-century German explorers {{Explorer-stub