Alexander von Humboldt

His personal life is shrouded in mystery as reportedly, all his personal letters were destroyed by him.

He had amassed some wealth and all these were given to his domestic helper Seifert, a few years before his death.

This eminent naturalist breathed his last on 6th May, 1859, in Berlin and his rearing place is at Tegel.

He was born to Alexander Georg von Humboldt and Maria Elizabeth Colomb on 14th September, 1769, in Berlin, in the historic state of Prussia. He had a sibling named Wilhelm.

His mother was entitled to a good fortune and took up the responsibility of her children after the death of Alexander’s father in 1779. He and his brother were educated at home by private tutors in subjects such as political history, mathematics, economics and various languages.

From his early childhood, he had a knack for observing and gathering specimens of plants, insects and shells, and this earned him the nickname ‘the little apothecary’.

Later, he enrolled at the ‘University of Frankfurt (Oder)’ as a student of finance for a brief period of time.

In 1789, he enrolled at the ‘University of Göttingen’ and the same year he embarked on an expedition to the Rhine River. During this trip he wrote the piece ‘Mineralogische Beobachtungen über einige Basalte am Rhein’ (Mineralogic Observations on Several Basalts on the River Rhine).

At the university Humboldt developed an interest for geology and mineralogy and later, joined the ‘Freiberg Academy of Mines’, where he was trained under the tutelage of renowned geologist A.G. Werner.

He also got acquainted to George Foster, who was the illustrator of famous explorer Captain James Cook. George and Alexander went on voyages throughout Europe. In 1790, the duo travelled to England during the summer.

In 1792, Alexander got a mining job at Berlin and was posted as assessor of mines. He worked exceptionally well and soon moved up the ranks in the department. Many diplomatic undertakings were also assigned to him.

From 1792-97, this explorer had settled in the Austrian city of Vienna and in between embarked on a short trip to Italy and Switzerland.

At the mining department, he worked rigorously from morning to evening, and amassed immense knowledge in this field. In 1793, he published a book named ‘Florae Fribergensis Specimen’ based on his study of the flora in the mines.

His book ‘Kosmos’ can be regarded as one among his greatest works where he instilled all his knowledge about natural science. He collected much data during his life and advocated that all the physical science such as meteorology, biology and geology have an interrelated relationship.