Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf (businessman, 1712)

Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf (* May 6, 1712 in Lübeck ; † July 7, 1778 ibid) was a German businessman and naturalist.

Live and act

Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf was the eldest of seven children of a Lübeck merchant of the same name (born November 17, 1681 in Lübeck; † May 9, 1721 ibid) and his wife Catharina, née Hübens (born April 11, 1694 in Lübeck; † January 25, 1771 ibid). The maternal grandfather was the mayor of Lübeck, Jakob Hübens .

As is customary in this Lübeck merchant family, Tesdorpf completed a four-year training course as a merchant in Hamburg . A subsequent trip took him to Holland, Brabant and France. He worked as a businessman in London for two years and then traveled to Portugal, Spain and Paris. In 1737 he went back to Lübeck and worked in the bank of his stepfather Christian David Evers, whom his mother had married in a second marriage.

In 1739 he was accepted into the College of Skåne drivers. He then received shares in the bank and was so economically successful that he became financially independent and could devote himself to other things. During his travels he had already been particularly interested in the natural sciences. He used his business contacts abroad to put together a highly regarded cabinet of natural objects. It contained living and stuffed exotic animals, fossils, and other exhibits. The collection developed into the focus of Lübeck's social life. From 1742 to 1778 Tesdorpf was also involved as head of the Holy Spirit Hospital . In addition, he did not appear in public.

In Paris, Tesdorpf met the physicist René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur , with whom he corresponded. He maintained further contacts, for example, with August Johann Rösel , Jacob Theodor Klein and Wilhelm Adolph Paulli . In 1753 he himself wrote the didactic poem attempt to describe ... Colibrit ... in 59 stanzas. He wanted to advertise his collection and pass on his knowledge. There were also several poems and short messages in which he reported on new results in the natural sciences.

Tesdorpf was a self-taught natural scientist with some bizarre features. Because of his publications and his way of life, he was viewed favorably by scientists. He was considered an interesting eccentric by the residents of Lübeck. The "Teutsche Gesellschaft" in Jena accepted him in 1754 as a member.

family

Tesdorpf married Elisabeth Dorothea Benser on June 29, 1739 (born August 12, 1720 in Lübeck; † June 27, 1751 there). Her father Hinrich Benser was a Lübeck merchant. A merchant of the same name emerged from the marriage in 1751 .

Works

• Attempt to describe the most beautiful and almost very small bird, which is known under the name Colibrit. Leipzig, Lübeck: 1754 ( digitized version , Bavarian State Library )

literature

• Ortwin Pelc : Tesdorpf, Peter Hinrich. In: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck. Volume 8. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1987, pp. 338-339.

Web links

• Publications by and about Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf in VD 18 .