Martin Theodor von Heuglin (20 March 1824, Hirschlanden,

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

5 November 1876), was a German

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

Biography

Heuglin was born in Hirschlanden (now part of Ditzingen) in Württemberg. His father was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

, and he was trained to be a

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

. He was ambitious, however, to become a scientific investigator of unknown regions, and with that object studied the natural sciences, especially

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

. In 1850 he went 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 ...

where he learnt

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, and visited 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 ...

and Sinai. In 1852 he accompanied Dr. Christian Reitz,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n consul at

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 ...

, on a journey to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, and after Reitz's death was appointed his successor in the consulate. While he held this post he travelled in Ethiopia and Kordofan, making a valuable collection of natural history specimens. In 1857 he journeyed through the coast lands of the African side of the Red Sea, and along the Somali coast. In 1860 he was chosen as leader of an expedition to search for Eduard Vogel, his companions including Werner Munzinger, Gottlob Kinzelbach, and Hermann Steudner. In June 1861 the party 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 ...

, having instructions to go direct to Khartoum and then to Ouaddai, where Vogel was thought to be detained. Heuglin, accompanied by Hermann Steudner, made a wide detour through Abyssinia and the Galla country, and in consequence the leadership of the expedition was taken from him. He and Steudner reached Khartoum in 1862 and there joined the party organized by Alexine Tinne and her mother Henriette Tinne-van Capellen, who then had just returned from a

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 ...

journey to Gondokoro. With both women and on their own account they explored a great part of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, where Steudner died of fever on 10 April 1863 and Alexine's mother on 20 July. After having reached Cairo with Alexine Tinne, Heuglin returned to Europe in February 1864. In 1870 and 1871 he made a valuable series of explorations in

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

and Novaya Zemlya; but 1875 found him again in north-east Africa, in the country of the Beni, Amer and northern Abyssinia. He was preparing for an exploration of the island of

Socotra Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as ...

, when he died in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. It is principally by his zoological, and more especially his ornithological, labours that Heuglin has taken rank as an independent authority.

Works

*''Systematische Übersicht der Vögel Nordost-Afrikas'' (Systematic Review of Northeastern-African Birds) (1855) *''Reisen in Nordost-Afrika, 1852–1853'' (Travels in Northeast Africa, 1852–1853) (Gotha, 1857) *''Syst. Übersicht der Säugetiere Nordost-Afrikas'' (Systematic Review of Mammals of Northeast Africa) (Vienna, 1867) *''Reise nach Abessinien, den Gala-Ländern, &c., 1861–1862'' (Trip to Abyssinia, the ??, etc., 1861–1862) (Jena, 1868) *''Reise in das Gebiet des Weissen Nil, &c. 1862–1864'' (Trip to the White Nile and Environs, 1862–1864) (Leipzig, 1869) *''Reisen nach dem Nordpolarmeer, 1870–1871'' (Trip to the Arctic Ocean, 1870–1871) (Brunswick, 1872–1874) *''Ornithologie von Nordost-Afrika'' (Ornithology of Northeast Africa) (Cassel, 1869–1875) *''Reise in Nordost-Afrika'' (A trip in Northeast Africa) (Brunswick, 1877, 2 vols).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heuglin, Theodor von German ornithologists German taxonomists 1824 births 1876 deaths German explorers of Africa Explorers of the Arctic People from the Kingdom of Württemberg People from Ludwigsburg (district) Novaya Zemlya German untitled nobility 19th-century German zoologists

Biography

Works

See also

References