Hermann Steudner
Encyclopedia
Carl Theodor Hermann Steudner (1 September 1832 - 10 April 1863) was a botanist and an explorer of Africa
.
, located in Silesia
, but grew up in Görlitz
. He studied in Berlin
and Würzburg
botany, mineralogy and medicine. Among his professors were Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg
, Heinrich Wilhelm Dove
and Carl Ritter
in Berlin, respectively Rudolf Virchow
, Franz von Rinecker
and Albert von Kölliker
in Würzburg, where he made friendship with Ernst Haeckel
.
Returned to Berlin, Steudner devoted himself to botany and published on Marantaceae
. He was elected member of the Berlin Society of Friends of Natural Science
. Heinrich Barth
of the Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin
convinced him to participate in an Africa expedition to search for Eduard Vogel
, whose traces were lost in the Ouaddai Empire. This expedition was initiated by Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
and started on 4 March 1861 in Alexandria
. After shipping over the Red Sea
they landed at Massawa
on 17 June 1861 and observed birds on Dahlak Archipelago
. Their way through the Ethiopian Highlands
led them to Keren
in the country of the Bilen people
, from where Werner Munzinger
came to join them, and afterwards to Adwa
, where they met Wilhelm Schimper
. Here the expedition split in two parties. Steudner remained at Heuglin. They made a wide detour through the Galla
country in order to search for Tewodros II of Ethiopia
. After visiting Gondar
and Magdala
they came to Edschebet, where they were guests of Tewodros. From Lake Tana
they turned north. Over the Blue Nile
they reached Khartoum
in July 1862.
Because of this detour, the leadership of the expedition was taken from Heuglin. They used the break to visit Kurdufan
, where they followed the traces of Theodor Kotschy
. On 25 January 1863 they joined Alexandrine Tinné
on her tour up the White Nile
to the Bahr el Ghasal
. Steudner died of fever on 10 April 1863 in Waw near the Jur River
.
is named after Steudner and a friend, Karl Koch
, gave a genus of Aroideae
, a sub-family of Araceae
, his name as well (Steudnera). In Görlitz, a monument was erected, but it was largely destroyed in World War II
to use the metal for military purposes.
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
Education and early work
Steudner was born in GreiffenbergGryfów Slaski
Gryfów Śląski is a town in Lwówek Śląski County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Gryfów Śląski. As at 2006, the town has a population of 7,128. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany.The town is located between Zgorzelec...
, located in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, but grew up in Görlitz
Görlitz
Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...
. He studied in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
botany, mineralogy and medicine. Among his professors were Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg
Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg
Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg , German naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopist, was one of the most famous and productive scientists of his time.- Early collections :...
, Heinrich Wilhelm Dove
Heinrich Wilhelm Dove
Heinrich Wilhelm Dove was a Prussian physicist and meteorologist. He was the father of Alfred and Richard Dove.-Early Years:...
and Carl Ritter
Carl Ritter
Carl Ritter was a German geographer. Along with Alexander von Humboldt, he is considered one of the founders of modern geography. From 1825 until his death, he occupied the first chair in geography at the University of Berlin.-Biography:Ritter was born in Quedlinburg, one of the six children of a...
in Berlin, respectively Rudolf Virchow
Rudolf Virchow
Rudolph Carl Virchow was a German doctor, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician, known for his advancement of public health...
, Franz von Rinecker
Franz von Rinecker
Franz von Rinecker was a German pharmacologist who was a native of Schesslitz from the district of Bamberg....
and Albert von Kölliker
Albert von Kölliker
Albert von Kölliker was a Swiss anatomist and physiologist.-Biography:Albert Kölliker was born in Zurich, Switzerland. His early education was carried on in Zurich, and he entered the university there in 1836...
in Würzburg, where he made friendship with Ernst Haeckel
Ernst Haeckel
The "European War" became known as "The Great War", and it was not until 1920, in the book "The First World War 1914-1918" by Charles à Court Repington, that the term "First World War" was used as the official name for the conflict.-Research:...
.
Returned to Berlin, Steudner devoted himself to botany and published on Marantaceae
Marantaceae
The Marantaceae or arrowroot family is a family of flowering plants known for its large starchy rhizomes. It is sometimes called the prayer-plant family...
. He was elected member of the Berlin Society of Friends of Natural Science
Berlin Society of Friends of Natural Science
The Berlin Society of Friends of Natural Science, is a scientific society founded in 1773....
. Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.Barth is one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, not necessarily because of the length of his travels or the time he spent alone without European company in Africa, but because of his singular character.-Biography:Barth...
of the Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin
Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin
The Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin was founded in 1828 and is the second oldest geographical society.It was founded by some of the foremost geographers of its time...
convinced him to participate in an Africa expedition to search for Eduard Vogel
Eduard Vogel
Eduard Vogel 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 1851, he was engaged as assistant astronomer to director John Russel Hind at George...
, whose traces were lost in the Ouaddai Empire. This expedition was initiated by Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Expedition to Africa
The expedition was led by Theodor von HeuglinTheodor von Heuglin
Martin Theodor von Heuglin , was a German explorer and ornithologist.-Biography:...
and started on 4 March 1861 in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
. After shipping over the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
they landed at Massawa
Massawa
Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...
on 17 June 1861 and observed birds on Dahlak Archipelago
Dahlak Archipelago
The Dahlak Archipelago is an island group located in the Red Sea near Massawa, Eritrea. It consists of two large and 124 small islands. The pearl fisheries of the archipelago have been famous since Roman times and still produce a substantial number of pearls. Only four of the islands are...
. Their way through the Ethiopian Highlands
Ethiopian Highlands
The Ethiopian Highlands are a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia, Eritrea , and northern Somalia in the Horn of Africa...
led them to Keren
Keren, Eritrea
Keren is the second largest city in Eritrea. It is situated about 91 kilometers northwest of Asmara. The town serves as the capital of the Anseba region, and is home to the Bilen ethnic group.-History:...
in the country of the Bilen people
Bilen people
The Bilen, Blin or Bilin, also known as the Bogo or North Agaw, are an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. They are primarily concentrated in central Eritrea, in and around the city of Keren, and south toward Asmara, the nation's capital.-Overview:Some of the Bilen entered Eritrea from Ethiopia...
, from where Werner Munzinger
Werner Munzinger
Werner Munzinger was a Swiss administrator and explorer of the Horn of Africa.-Biography:...
came to join them, and afterwards to Adwa
Adwa
Adwa is a market town in northern Ethiopia, and best known as the community closest to the decisive Battle of Adowa fought in 1896 with Italian troops. Notably, Ethiopian soldiers won the battle, thus being the only African nation to thwart European colonialism...
, where they met Wilhelm Schimper
Wilhelm Schimper
Georg Heinrich Wilhelm Schimper was a German botanist and naturalist born in Reichenschwand. He was a brother to naturalist Karl Friedrich Schimper....
. Here the expedition split in two parties. Steudner remained at Heuglin. They made a wide detour through the Galla
Galla
Galla can refer to:* A derogatory name for the Oromo people of Ethiopia* Galla * Galla * Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius I* Galla of Rome, 6th-century saint* Gallu, a Mesopotamian demon...
country in order to search for Tewodros II of Ethiopia
Tewodros II of Ethiopia
Tewodros II was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death....
. After visiting Gondar
Gondar
Gondar or Gonder is a city in Ethiopia, which was once the old imperial capital and capital of the historic Begemder Province. As a result, the old province of Begemder is sometimes referred to as Gondar...
and Magdala
Amba Mariam
Amba Mariam is a village in central Ethiopia. It was known as Magdala or Meqdela during the reign of Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia...
they came to Edschebet, where they were guests of Tewodros. From Lake Tana
Lake Tana
Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia...
they turned north. Over the Blue Nile
Blue Nile
The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. With the White Nile, the river is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile...
they reached Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
in July 1862.
Because of this detour, the leadership of the expedition was taken from Heuglin. They used the break to visit Kurdufan
Kurdufan
Kurdufan , also spelled Kordofan, is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kurdufan, South Kurdufan, and West Kurdufan...
, where they followed the traces of Theodor Kotschy
Theodor Kotschy
Karl Georg Theodor Kotschy was an Austrian botanist and explorer who was a native of Ustroń, in Austrian Silesia. He was the son of theologian Carl Friedrich Kotschy .-Biography:...
. On 25 January 1863 they joined Alexandrine Tinné
Alexandrine Tinné
Alexandrine Petronella Francina Tinne was a Dutch explorer in Africa and the first European woman to attempt to cross the Sahara...
on her tour up the White Nile
White Nile
The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile from Egypt, the other being the Blue Nile. In the strict meaning, "White Nile" refers to the river formed at Lake No at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal and Bahr el Ghazal rivers...
to the Bahr el Ghasal
Bahr el Ghazal River
The Bahr el Ghazal is a river in South Sudan. The name translates as "sea of gazelles". The South Sudanese region of Bahr el Ghazal takes its name from the river....
. Steudner died of fever on 10 April 1863 in Waw near the Jur River
Jur River
The Jur 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 Jur River is part of the Nile basin, as the Bahr al-Ghazal flows into...
.
Honors
Steudner visited regions which were never explored by a botanist before. Hence, his careful reports were of high importance. Renowned herbariums 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 findings of him. The Algerian Sand Gecko (Tropiocolotes steudneri)Tropiocolotes
Tropiocolotes is a small genus of very small geckos, mostly about 2" or less in total length, endemic to Northern Africa. They are commonly known as Dwarf or Pygmy Geckos. The have a very elongated body and the head is oval and equal or lesser in width to the body...
is named after Steudner and a friend, Karl Koch
Karl Koch (botanist)
Karl Heinrich Emil Koch was a German botanist. He is best known for his botanical explorations in the Caucasus region, including northeast Turkey. Unfortunately, most of his collections have today been lost. He is also known as the first professional horticultural officer in...
, gave a genus of Aroideae
Aroideae
Aroideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the Araceae family. It is the largest subfamily in Araceae and consists of about 72 different genera. Plants in Aroideae are characteristic of having spiny pollen without a sporopollenin outer exine layer and an aperature.-References:*Bown, Deni ....
, a sub-family of Araceae
Araceae
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 known as the Arum family, members are often colloquially...
, his name as well (Steudnera). In Görlitz, a monument was erected, but it was largely destroyed in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to use the metal for military purposes.
Further reading
- Hermann Steudner. Travel reports in Zeitschrift der Berliner Gesellschaft für Erdkunde und Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdkunde 1861-1864.
- Schindler. Nekrolog. Vorgetragen zur Hauptversammlung im October 1863. in: Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Görlitz, Vol. 12, pp. 201-205, 1865
- Ernst Haeckel. Entwicklungsgeschichte einer Jugend, Briefe an die Eltern 1852/1856. Leipzig, KF. Köhler, 1921
- Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1885-1892, Vol. 15, p. 309
- James Quirin. "Caste and Class in Historical North-West Ethiopia: The Beta Israel (Falasha) and Kemant, Journal of African History, Vol. 39, 1998, pp. 195-220
- Georg Schweinfurth. Beitrag zur Flora Aethiopiens. G. Reimer Berlin, 1867 online
- Annelore Rieke-Müller. Der Blick über das ganze Erdenrund - Deutsche Forschungsreisen und Forschungsreisende im 19. Jahrhundert bis zur Deutschen Afrika-Expedition 1860-1863. WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, 1999