Georg Wilhelm Freyreiss

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Georg Wilhelm Freyreiss (born July 12, 1789 in Frankfurt am Main ; † April 1, 1825 in Leopoldina, Brazil ) was a German explorer and naturalist in Brazil, who founded the German colony Leopoldina (today: Helvécia) in Bahia there in 1817 .

Life

The son of a shoemaker received a commercial training in Frankfurt, but was also very fond of natural history. His wanderlust did not keep him in the commercial profession. Therefore, on recommendation, he came to St. Petersburg in 1809, where he came into contact with Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff . When he was appointed to the Russian consul in Brazil, Freyreiss accompanied him in 1812. Because of adverse weather, they wintered in Karlshamn in Sweden. They reached Rio de Janeiro on August 29, 1813. There Freyreiss made friends with the Swedish-Norwegian Consul General Lorentz Westin , who provided him with the necessary funds to travel and collect natural history objects. In July 1814 Freyreiss went on a trip to Minas Gerais together with the director of a mining company Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege . He collected animals and plants and studied the indigenous peoples and landscape features. In January 1815 he returned to Rio. In Langsdorff's house he met Friedrich Sellow , they were planning a trip and Freyreiss was given an annual contribution and letters of recommendation by the Brazilian government as the king's financed natural scientist and was honored with the prospect of a professorship in zoology. When Prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied arrived in Rio in July 1815, it was decided that both would accompany him on his journey into the interior of Brazil (1815-1817). Freyreiss left the expedition several times in order to undertake his own travels and finally stayed in Bahia, where he settled and founded the Leopoldina colony. He collected natural history objects that he sent to Moscow, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Leiden and Berlin. His objects also reached Uppsala via the Lorentz Westin collection. He was preparing to travel the Amazon when death overtook him.

Services

Freyreiss is one of the early collectors of natural history objects in Brazil. He was primarily interested in ornithology: he prepared bird skins and follicles, but also plants. He sent the collected natural produce to the Royal Academy in Stockholm, the scientific report was edited by Olof Swartz , some plants also by Carl Peter Thunberg . His extensive collections also went to various natural science societies in Graz, Moscow, Stockholm, Berlin, Leiden and Hanau. On April 13, 1818, he became one of the "founding members" of the Senckenberg Natural Research Society in Frankfurt / M., Which supported him financially and received birds and plants in return. He wrote reports about his travels in Brazil, which are characterized by precise observations of nature, country and people. However, his “Travels in Brazil” was published more than 140 years after his death. He is considered to be the founder of the German colony Leopoldina west of Caravelas in Bahia.

Works

  • Contributions to the closer knowledge of the empire of Brazil, together with a description of the new colony Leopoldina and the most important branches of business for European settlers, as well as a description of the reasons why new settlements failed, Sauerländer, Frankfurt 1824 (later translated into Swedish by CAM Lindman)
  • Travels in Brazil 1968 (posthumous), 1992 (Portuguese edition)

Honors

In January 1816 Freyreiss became a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm .

The following were named after Freyreiss:

Animals :

Plants :

  • Asteraceae Ophryosporus freyreissii (Baker 1876)
  • Cyclanthaceae Evodianthus freyreissii (Lindm. 1900)
  • Dryopteridaceae Aspidium freyreissii (Wikstr. 1825)
  • Eriocaulaceae Dupatya freyreissii (Kuntze 1891)
  • Eriocaulaceae Paepalanthus freyreissii (grain 1863)
  • Melastomataceae Leandra freyreissii (Cogn. 1886)
  • Myrtaceae Gomidesia freyreissiana (O. Berg 1857)
  • Myrtaceae Myrcia freyreissiana (Kiaersk. 1893)
  • Polypodiaceae Polypodium freyreisii (Spreng.)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Freyreiss, Georg Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Freyreiß, Georg Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German explorer and naturalist
DATE OF BIRTH July 12, 1789
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 1825
Place of death Leopoldina