Carl Ferdinand Appun (24 May 1820, Bunzlau- July 1872, Guyana) was a German naturalist. On the recommendation of

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...

Appun was employed by

Frederick William IV of Prussia Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

as a botanist in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

where excepting a one-year break in Germany, he spent ten years exploring the flora. After that he went to British Guayana, where he researched as a botanist on behalf the British government. He also visited parts of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

-the Rio Branco and Rio Negro on the Amazon to Tabatinga. During a visit in Germany (1868–1871) he published a set of essays in different magazines . His best known work'' Unter den Tropen'' (''Under the Tropics'') was at that time extremely popular. In 1871 he undertook a second exploration of Guyana, where he had an accident which led to his death. His last writings were essays about

Indigenous peoples in Venezuela Indigenous people in Venezuela, Amerindians or Native Venezuelans, form about 2% of the total population of Venezuela,Van Cott (2003), "Andean Indigenous Movements and Constitutional Transformation: Venezuela in Comparative Perspective", ''Latin Am ...

. Appun described many new plant species and is also known as an

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Works

*''Über die Behandlung von Sämerein und Pflanzen des tropischen Süd-Amerika, besonders Venezuela’s''. Bunzlau 1858 *''Unter den Tropen: Wanderungen durch Venezuela, am Orinoco, durch Britisch Guyana und am Amazonenstrome in den Jahren 1849-1868''. Jena: Costenoble, 1871. *''Venezuela''. Jena: Costenoble, 1871. Unter den Tropen; 1. *''Britisch Guyana''. Jena: Costenoble, 1871. Unter den Tropen; 2. *with

Eduard Raimund Baierlein Eduard Raimund Baierlein (29 April 1819, in Posen – 12 October 1901) was a German Lutheran missionary. In June 1847 he arrived in Frankenmuth, Michigan as a missionary to the Ojibwe people. The following spring he established a Lutheran miss ...

''Bei den Indianern''. Berlin; Leipzig: Hillger, 1915. Deutsche Jugendbücherei; Nr 104

Collections

The

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum (german: Museum für Naturkunde) is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major muse ...

contains Diptera collected by Appun in Colombia.

References

* Papavero, N. (1973): ''Essays on the history of Neotropical dipterology, with special reference to collectors (1750-1905)''. São Paulo: Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo. *

Herbert Scurla Herbert Scurla (21 April 1905, Großräschen – 7 April 1981, Kolkwitz) was a German writer and academic. Biography Herbert Scurla was born in 1905 in Großräschen, Brandenburg. He studied law and economics in Berlin. He joined the Nazi Party ...

(1968): ''Im Lande der Kariben. Reisen deutscher Forscher des 19. Jahrhunderts in Guayana. Alexander von Humboldt. Robert Schomburgk. Richard Schomburgk. Carl Ferdinand Appun''. Berlin: Verlag der Nation, 1964; 3. Auflage. * Julius Loewenberg (1875): ''Appun, Karl Ferdinand'', in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB), Band 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Appun, Carl Ferdinand Appun 19th-century German botanists German entomologists 1820 births 1872 deaths People from Bolesławiec