Alexander Postels

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Alexander Johann Gustav Filippowitsch Postel ( Russian Александр Филиппович Постельс * August 24 jul. / 5. September  1801 greg. In Helmet , † June 28 jul. / 10. July  1871 greg. In Vyborg ) was a deutschbaltisch - Russian naturalist and University professor .

Life

Postel's parents were the pastor Gottfried Ludwig Philipp Postels from Stettin and his wife Antoinette Auguste née Mylius. Postels began studying in 1816 at the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg , from which the University of St. Petersburg emerged in 1819 . In 1823 he graduated from the physical - mathematical faculty of the University of St. Petersburg with a silver medal as a candidate in physical-mathematical sciences . He stayed at the university and became a master of mineralogy and geology .

Route of the Senjawin 1826–1829
Sitka (A. Postels, Alaska State Museum , Juneau )
Laminaria bongardiana palmata (A. Postels, Illustrationes algarum in itinere circa orbem jussu Imperatoriis Nicolai I, 1840)

In 1826 Postels began a lecture on inorganic chemistry . In August 1826 he was delegated as a mineralogist and draftsman to the Sloop Senjawin under the command of Friedrich Benjamin von Lütkes in Kronstadt , so that Postels took part in Lütke's circumnavigation . He was the first St. Petersburg University graduate selected for such a large expedition. Other participants were Karl Heinrich Mertens and Heinrich von Kittlitz . The coasts of Alaska and the Far East in particular were explored . After returning to Kronstadt in 1829, Postels organized and documented the numerous and varied natural history materials he had brought with him in the following years . This resulted in extensive collections of mammals , insects , birds , plants , rocks and minerals . All collections were provided with sketch albums . The sea ​​palm Postelsia palmaeformis bears Postel's name. For his published work, Postels received the undivided Demidow Prize of the Academy of Sciences in 1841 (together with Franz Joseph Ruprecht ) and the Order of St. Vladimir IV class.

In 1830, Postel's assistant was Dmitri Ivanovich Sokolov . In May 1831 he was appointed adjunct professor at the chair for mineralogy and geognosy at the University of St. Petersburg. At the same time he was custodian of the Mineralogical Museum of the Academy of Sciences (until 1837, then custodian of the Ethnographic Cabinet). In February 1833 he became adjunct at the main pedagogical institute (1836 full professor , 1839 full professor). From 1835 he taught mineralogy at the Technology Institute.

In 1835 Postels became inspector of the private and public schools in St. Petersburg. In 1937 he became director of the 2nd St. Petersburg grammar school, in which he immediately carried out urgently needed reforms. He also took over the natural history lessons for the Grand Duchesses Maria and Katharina and directed the education of the children of the Prince of Oldenburg , for which he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir III in 1845. Class received. In the same year he became a real member of the Russian Geographical Society . In 1849 he was appointed to the Real Council of State (4th class ). In 1850 he became a member of the committee for the inspection of school administrations, in 1855 a member of the commission for the inspection of naval training institutions and in 1856 a member of the school administration alongside his high school director's office. In 1862 he was a member of the committee for the reorganization of training at the naval training institutions. For this he was promoted to privy councilor (3rd class). After the school administration was dissolved in 1863, Postels became an advisor to the minister of education. In 1866 the Academy of Sciences made Postel an honorary member.

Postel's son Friedrich became director of the St. Petersburg Forest Technology Institute. Postel's grandson Friedrich von Postels was a Russian and American architect .

Postels was buried in St. Petersburg in the Lutheran part of the Smolensk cemetery .

Honors, prizes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Alexander Philipou Postels. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
  2. ↑ a b Erich Donnert: Russia's Reaching Out to America - A Contribution to the Eurasian-American history of discovery in the 18th and early 19th centuries . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-631-58362-3 , p. 143 .
  3. ↑ Б. Гарский : Постельс, Александр Филиппович . In: Русский биографический словарь А. А. Половцова . tape 14 , 1910, pp. 626–628 ( s: ru: РБС / ВТ / Постельс, Александр Филиппович [accessed August 3, 2018]).
  4. ↑ Постельс (Александр Филиппович, 1801–1871) . In: Brockhaus-Efron . XXIVa, 1898, p. 708 ( s: ru: ЭСБЕ / Постельс, Александр Филиппович [accessed August 3, 2018]).
  5. ↑ A. Postels: Comments on the volcanoes of the Kamtchatka peninsula . In: Мемуарах Академии наук . tape II , 1833.
  6. ^ Voyage autour du monde, executé par ordre de sa Majesté l'empereur Nicolas I sur la corvette “Le Seniavine” dans les années 1826, 1827, 1828 et 1829, par Fréderic Lütke. T. III-me, contenant les travaux de mm. les naturalistes, rédigé par Alex. Postels . Paris 1836.
  7. ^ A. Postels, F. Ruprecht: Illustrationes algarum in itinere circa orbem, jussu Imperatoris Nicolai I atque auspiciis nanarchi Friderici Lütke annis 1826, 1827, 1828 et 1829 in celoce Seniavin execute in oceano Pacifico, imprimis septemtrionalici ad littora-america asi asi, collectarum . St. Petersburg 1840.
  8. ↑ A. Postels; F. Ruprecht: Illustrationes algarum . Cramer, Weinheim 1963.
  9. ↑ Postel, Alexander Philipou (1801-1871) (accessed on August 3, 2018).
  10. ↑ Пятидесятилетний юбилей С.-Петербургского практического технологического института (accessed August 3, 2018).
  11. ↑ Временный устав Русского географического общества . St. Petersburg 1845.
  12. ↑ Список гражданским чинам первых IV классов: Состояние чинов на 1 июля 1860 . S. 87 ( [1] [accessed August 3, 2018]).
  13. ↑ Russian Academy of Sciences: Постельс Александр Филиппович (accessed August 3, 2018).
personal data
SURNAME Postels, Alexander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Postels, Alexander Johann Gustav Filippowitsch (full name); Постельс, Александр Филиппович (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Baltic-Russian naturalist and university lecturer
DATE OF BIRTH September 5, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Helmet
DATE OF DEATH July 10, 1871
Place of death Vyborg