Ferdinand von Mueller

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Ferdinand von Mueller
Ferdinand von Mueller

Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich Mueller , from 1867 von Mueller , from 1871 Freiherr von Mueller (born June 30, 1825 in Rostock , †  October 10, 1896 in Melbourne , Australia ) was a German-Australian botanist and geographer . Its official botanical author abbreviation is " F.Muell. "

Early years

After the early death of his father, Mueller's mother and four children moved to live with her family in Tönning . After completing the rector's class there, he began an apprenticeship in the unicorn pharmacy in Husum . He then studied pharmacy at the University of Kiel , but also took botany under Ernst Ferdinand Nolte . At the age of 22, he obtained his doctorate in 1847 with a thesis on the ordinary shepherd's purse . During his studies he had already dealt extensively with the flora of Schleswig-Holstein and began to build up a collection.

In 1847, Mueller broke off studying medicine, which he also pursued, and emigrated to Australia with two sisters via Bremen . The main reason for this decision was that he had received medical advice to move to a warmer climate. He is said to have used the crossing to fish and analyze plants and algae from the sea.

On December 18, 1847, Mueller arrived in Adelaide and quickly found a job as a pharmacist. He gave up this activity for a short time in order to cultivate a small piece of land (20 acres ) that he had bought near Adelaide together with his childhood friend Friedrich Eduard Krichauff , but soon afterwards he returned to the city to again to work as a pharmacist.

During this time Mueller published some articles on botanical topics in German journals and in 1852 he submitted the work "The Flora of South Australia" to the Linnaeus Society in London . From 1848 to 1852, Mueller traveled widely across the country. On this occasion he discovered and described numerous plants previously unknown to science. He soon moved from Adelaide to Melbourne.

Serving the Government of Victoria

On the recommendation of the British botanist Sir William Jackson Hooker , Mueller was hired as a botanist by the government of the Colony of Victoria in 1853 . The governor of Victoria, Charles La Trobe , created a new post for this purpose. In his new position, Mueller initially devoted himself to researching the vegetation in the mountains of Australia, which until then was almost unknown. From Melbourne he explored the Buffalo Ranges, then turned to the upper reaches of the Goulburn River and finally moved back to the coast via Gippsland . Then the area around Port Albert and what is now the Wilsons Promontory National Park was examined. Eventually he traveled back to Melbourne along the sea, ending a research trip that had spanned nearly 1,500 miles.

In the same year, Mueller founded the National Herbarium of Victoria, which still exists and can be visited today. Many plants from Australia but also from abroad can be viewed there; including those that he has collected himself. Mueller's extensive private library can also be viewed in Melbourne today.

In 1855/56 Mueller joined the expedition that Augustus Gregory led into the outback on behalf of the Duke of Newcastle , where he served as a scientific expert. The expedition explored the Victoria River and other areas in northern Australia. Mueller was one of the four expedition members who reached Termination Lake in 1856 , and he continued with Gregory on the way back to Moreton Bay near Brisbane . During the trip, Mueller discovered almost 800 new species and, after the expedition ended, published Definitions of Rare or Hitherto Undescribed Australian Plants .

From 1854 to 1872 Mueller was a member of the Institute for Scientific Progress of Victoria. In 1859 he was president of this institute when it was renamed the Royal Society of Victoria due to a royal founding act . He was an active member of the committee that sent the Burke and Wills expedition in 1860, which was supposed to succeed in crossing Australia for the first time. Mueller promoted the exploration of Australia and was the only member of the committee who had his own experience in research. For this reason he had a great influence on the preparation of the expedition and in particular on the composition of its participants. It should be thanks to him that Robert O'Hara Burke was appointed leader of the expedition. Mueller was also involved in various attempts to clarify the fate of Ludwig Leichhardt, who disappeared on an expedition into the interior of Australia .

From 1857 to 1873 Mueller was director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne . In this capacity he not only introduced many new plants to Victoria, but also made the eucalyptus known all over the world and promoted its spread to southern Europe, Africa, California and South America.

Mueller was the patron of the researcher Ernest Giles , the discoverer of Lake Amadeus and Kata Tjuṯa / Mount Olga. Giles initially wanted to name the lake Lake Ferdinand and Kata Tjuṯa Mount Mueller, but Mueller insisted on naming the lake after King Amadeus of Spain and the mountain after Queen Olga of Württemberg , as both had promised him advantages. In fact, in 1871, on the occasion of the silver wedding anniversary of King Karl von Württemberg and Queen Olga , Mueller was bestowed the hereditary title of baron.

In 1873 Mueller came under increasing criticism for his scientific and instructive demands in the management of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens. In April 1873 he named a genus of plants after William Guilfoyle , whom he described as an outstanding collector who was passionate about his work and in whose abilities he had great hopes. Mueller's opinion of Guilfoyle changed quickly, however, when he learned in July 1873 that Guilfoyle should replace him as director of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens. Now he only referred to his rival as an art gardener who had no idea about science and who was only supposed to keep his position because of his wife's relationship with the responsible minister. In addition, the newly created genus Guilfoylia was abolished in Mueller's works ; he added the associated plants to the genus Cadellia . However, Mueller could not prevent Guilfoyle from taking over the post of director. After his inauguration, he redesigned the botanical garden in an aesthetic, eye-catching way that most Melbourneers liked.

Honors

Australian postage stamp (1948)
German postage stamp (1996)

Mueller has been recognized for his services by many countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Denmark and Portugal. In 1857 von Mueller was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina . In 1861 he was accepted as a member of the Royal Society . In 1865, von Mueller was again elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina . In 1866 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . In 1879 he was made Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George and thus raised to the British personal nobility ("Sir"). He also became a corresponding member of the Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory .

He was a corresponding member of the Thuringian-Saxon Association for Geography. In 1873 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Rostock and in 1883 he was awarded the Clarke Medal of the Royal Society of New South Wales . In 1888 he was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society and an honorary member of the Association for Patriotic Natural History in Württemberg . In 1892 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1895 as a corresponding member of the Académie des sciences .

The genus Muelleranthus Hutch. from the legume family (Fabaceae) and the magazine Muelleria , which appeared in 1955, are named after him. Other species that have been named in his honor, are Austromuellera C.T.White and Sirmuellera Kuntze , both from the family of proteaceae (Proteaceae), also Muellerina Tiegh. from the family of the belt flowers (Loranthaceae), Muellerolimon Lincz. from the family of plumbaginaceae (Plumbaginaceae) and Muellerothamnus Engl. of the family of monimiaceae (Monimiaceae).

The Australian Post honored Mueller with a stamp in 1948 and again in 1996 on the 100th anniversary of Mueller's death in a joint issue with Deutsche Post.

Nobility rise

With the award of the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown , Mueller was first elevated to the Württemberg personal nobility on December 20, 1867 . The elevation to the Württemberg baron took place four years later on July 6, 1871.

Places named after Mueller

Memorial plaque on Mueller's birthplace

Various geographical objects were named after Mueller: For example the Mueller Ranges (WA), the Muellers Range (Qld), a Mount Mueller (each in WA, NT, Tas and Vic) and a Mount von Mueller (WA), Muellers Peak (NSW ), the Mueller River (Vic), Muellers Creek (SA) and Mueller Creek (NT), Lake Mueller (Qld), the Mueller Glacier in New Zealand and Mount Mueller , a mountain in Antarctica.

Works

Mueller's published work is extremely extensive. Most probably Mueller's most important work is the eleven volumes of the Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae published between 1858 and 1881 . His Plants Indigenous to the Colony of Victoria (2 volumes, 1860-1865), as well as the Key to the System of Victorian Plants (2 volumes, 1885-1887) were milestones in the description of the flora of southeastern Australia. Together with George Bentham he published the seven-volume work Flora Australiensis (1863-1878), which was based on his collected samples and notes. This publication served Benjamin Daydon Jackson as one of the basic works for the creation of the Index Kewensis .

His other major works include the Selected Extra-Tropical Plants (1881), Eucalyptographia (1879-1884), Systematic Census of Australian Plants (1882-1885 with a supplement in 1889) and the Iconography of Australian Salsolaceous Plants (1889-1891).

Farther:

  • An historical review of the explorations of Australia . Philosophical Institute, Melbourne 1858.
  • Enumeration of the plants collected by Dr J Murray during Mr A Howitt's Expedition into Central Australia in the year 1862 . In: Annual Report of the Government Botanist . 1863, pp. 16-18.
  • On the systematic position of the Nardoo plant and the physiological characteristics of its fruit . In: Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria: During the years 1861 to 1864 . 1865, pp. 137-147.

literature

Web links

Commons : Ferdinand von Müller  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Member entry of Sir Ferdinand Jacob von Mueller (member 1799, cogn. Lechenault) at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on November 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ Member entry of Sir Ferdinand Jacob von Müller (member 2056, cogn. Bonpland II.) At the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on November 23, 2015.
  3. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 174.
  4. ^ Directory of the members of the Thuringian-Saxon Geography Association on March 31, 1885 ( Memento of December 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive ).
  5. ^ Honorary members of the Association for Patriotic Natural History in Württemberg .
  6. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter M. Académie des sciences, accessed on January 26, 2020 (French).
  7. ↑ Robert Zander : Zander hand dictionary of plant names. Edited by Fritz Encke , Günther Buchheim, Siegmund Seybold . 13th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-8001-5042-5 .
  8. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .
  9. ^ Court and State Manual of the Kingdom of Württemberg 1869, page 52
  10. ^ Benjamin Dayton Jackson: The new 'Index of Plant-Names'. In: The Botanical Journal - British and Foreign. Vol. XXV. West, Newman & Co., London 1887, pp. 66-71
personal data
SURNAME Mueller, Ferdinand von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mueller, Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Australian botanist and geographer
DATE OF BIRTH June 30, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Rostock
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1896
Place of death Melbourne , Australia