Carl Theodor Hermann Steudner (1 September 1832 – 10 April 1863) was a

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and an explorer of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Education and early work

Steudner was born in Greiffenberg, located in

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, ...

, but grew up in

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

. He studied botany, mineralogy, and medicine 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 ...

and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

. Among his professors were

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, Botany, botanist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopy, microscopist. He is considered to be one of the most famous an ...

Heinrich Wilhelm Dove Heinrich Wilhelm Dove (6 October 1803 – 4 April 1879) was a Prussian physicist and meteorologist. Early years Dove was born in Liegnitz in the Kingdom of Prussia. Dove studied history, philosophy, and the natural sciences at the University o ...

, and

Carl Ritter Carl Ritter (August 7, 1779September 28, 1859) was a German geographer. Along with Alexander von Humboldt, he is considered one of the founders of modern geography, as they established it as an independent scientific discipline. From 1825 until ...

in Berlin; and

Rudolf Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow ( ; ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder o ...

, Franz von Rinecker, and

Albert von Kölliker Albert von Kölliker (born Rudolf Albert Kölliker'';'' 6 July 1817 – 2 November 1905) was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, and histologist. Biography Albert Kölliker was born in Zürich, Switzerland. His early education was carried on in Z ...

in Würzburg, where he began his friendship with

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; ; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, natural history, naturalist, eugenics, eugenicist, Philosophy, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biology, marine biologist and artist ...

. Having returned to Berlin, Steudner devoted himself to botany and published on

Marantaceae The Marantaceae are a family, the arrowroot family, or the prayer plant family, of flowering plants consisting of 31 genera and around 530 species, defining it as one of the most species-rich families in its order. Kennedy, H. (2000). “Diversif ...

. He was elected a member of the

Berlin Society of Friends of Natural Science The Berlin Society of Friends of Natural Science, (Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin, in German) (GNF) is a scientific society, one of the most important such societies of the late 18th century. After the Danziger Naturforschenden Ges ...

Expedition to Africa

Heinrich Barth Johann Heinrich Barth (; ; 16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar. Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and wri ...

of the ''

Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin The Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin (''Berlin Geographical Society'') was founded in 1828 and is the second oldest geographical society. It was founded by some of the foremost geographers of its time. The founder Carl Ritter and the founding ...

'' convinced Steudner to participate in an African expedition to search for

Eduard Vogel Eduard Vogel (7 March 1829February 1856) was a German explorer in Central Africa. Early career Vogel was born in Krefeld. He studied mathematics, botany and astronomy at Leipzig and Berlin, studying with Encke at the latter institution. In ...

, whose traces had been lost in the

Ouaddai Empire The Wadai Sultanate ( ''Saltanat Waday'', , Fur: ''Burgu'' or ''Birgu''; 1635–1912), sometimes referred to as the Maba Sultanate (), was an African sultanate located to the east of Lake Chad in present-day Chad and the Central African Republic ...

. This expedition was initiated by

Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Ernest II (; 21 June 181822 August 1893) was Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 29 January 1844 to his death in 1893. He was born in Coburg to Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. His father be ...

. The expedition was led by

Theodor von Heuglin Martin Theodor von Heuglin (20 March 1824, Hirschlanden, Württemberg5 November 1876), was a German explorer and ornithologist. Biography Heuglin was born in Hirschlanden (now part of Ditzingen) in Württemberg. His father was a Protestant past ...

and started on 4 March 1861 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. After sailing over the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

they landed at

Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...

on 17 June 1861 and observed birds on

Dahlak Archipelago The Dahlak Archipelago is an Eritrean island group located in the Red Sea, measuring around 643 square km (248 square miles) and lying roughly 58 kilometers (31 nautical miles, 36 miles) east of Massawa, the regional capital city. Etymol ...

. Their way through the

Ethiopian Highlands The Ethiopian Highlands (also called the Abyssinian Highlands) is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , whil ...

led them to Keren in the country of the

Bilen people The Bilen (also variously transcribed as Blin, and also formerly known as the Bogos or Northern Agaw) are a Cushitic ethnic group in Eritrea. They are primarily concentrated in central Eritrea, in and around the city of Keren and further sout ...

, from where

Werner Munzinger Werner Munzinger (4 April 1832 in Olten, Switzerland – 14 November 1875 in Aussa, Sultanate of Aussa) was a Swiss adventurer and administrator under the service of the Khedivate of Egypt. Life and career He was born in Olten, and studied ...

came to join them, and afterwards to

Adwa Adwa (; ; also spelled Adowa or Aduwa) is a town and separate woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the site of the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Ethiopian soldiers defeated Italian troops, thus being ...

, where they met

Wilhelm Schimper Georg Heinrich Wilhelm Schimper in Amharic sources known as Sambar (2 August 1804 – October 1878) was a German botanist and naturalist who spent more than forty years in Ethiopia collecting specimens of plants, mainly in Semien, the Tekeze ...

. Here the expedition split into two parties. Steudner remained at Heuglin. They made a wide detour through the Galla country in order to search for

Tewodros II of Ethiopia Tewodros II (, once referred to by the English cognate Theodore; baptized as Kassa, – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to ...

. After visiting

Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on ...

and

Magdala Magdala (; ; ) was an ancient Jews, Jewish city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, north of Tiberias. In the Babylonian Talmud it is known as Magdala Nunayya (), and which some historical geographers think may refer to Tarichaea (). It is belie ...

they came to Edschebet, where they were guests of Tewodros. From

Lake Tana Lake Tana (; previously transcribed Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and a source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wide, with a maximum depth of , and ...

they turned north. By way of the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major Tributary, tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the wa ...

, they reached

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

in July 1862. Because of this detour, the leadership of the expedition was taken from Heuglin. They used the break to visit

Kurdufan Kordofan ( ') is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory divided between Nor ...

, where they followed the traces of

Theodor Kotschy Karl Georg Theodor Kotschy (15 April 1813 – 11 June 1866) was an Austrian botanist and explorer. On his botanical investigations, Kotschy collected large amounts of plants. For example, he described forty species of oak in this work, most of w ...

. On 25 January 1863 they joined

Alexine Tinne Alexandrine "Alexine" Pieternella Françoise Tinne (17 October 1835 – 1 August 1869) was a Dutch explorer in Africa who was the first European woman to attempt to cross the Sahara. She was an early photographer. Early life Alexine Tinn ...

on her tour up the

White Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. In the stri ...

to the Bahr el Ghasal. Steudner died of fever on 10 April 1863 in Waw near the

Jur River The Jur River ( Luo River) is a river in western South Sudan, flowing through the Bahr el Ghazal and Equatoria regions. About long, it flows north and northeast, joining the Bahr el Ghazal River on the western side of the Sudd wetlands. The Ju ...

Honors

Steudner visited regions which had never been explored by a botanist before. Hence, his careful reports were of high importance. Renowned herbariums, such as Kew Royal Botanic Gardens London, Natural History Museum London, ''Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle Paris'', Swedish Museum of Natural History Stockholm, and South African National Biodiversity Institute National Herbarium Pretoria, keep specimens that he collected. The

Steudner's dwarf gecko Steudner's dwarf gecko (''Tropiocolotes steudneri''), also Common name, commonly known as the Algerian sand gecko and Steudner's pigmy gecko, is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Gekkonidae. The species is native to North Africa ...

(''Tropiocolotes steudneri'') is named after Steudner.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Steudner", p. 253). Also, Karl Koch, a friend of Steudner, named the plant genus '' Steudnera'' (subfamily

Aroideae Aroideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Araceae. It is the largest subfamily in Araceae and consists of about 72 genera, and 2,300 species. Many Aroideae have spiny pollen grains without a sporopollenin outer e ...

, family

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

) in honor of Steudner. In Görlitz, a monument was erected, but it was largely destroyed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to use the metal for military purposes.

References

External links

Biography at the Upper Lusatian Science Society
(archived, in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Steudner, Hermann 1832 births 1863 deaths People from Lwówek Śląski County People from the Province of Silesia Explorers from the Kingdom of Prussia 19th-century German explorers German explorers of Africa

Education and early work

Expedition to Africa

Honors

References

Further reading

External links