Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff, Baron de Langsdorff (b. Wollstein, Germany, April 8, 1774; d. Freiburg, Germany, June 9, 1852) was a Prussian aristocrat, politician and naturalist. He lived in Russia and was better known by his Russian name, Grigori (Gregory) Ivanovitch. He was a member and correspondent of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences and a respected physician, graduated in medicine and natural history at the University of Göttingen, Germany. April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... 1774 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Freiburg city from Schlossberg Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Breisgau region, on the western edge of the southern Black Forest (German: Schwarzwald) with about 200,000 inhabitants. ... June 9 is the 160th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (161st in leap years), with 205 days remaining. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (German: Preußen or Preussen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: PrÅ«sai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of... Aristocracy is a form of government in which rulership is in the hands of an upper class known as aristocrats. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics. ... Natural history is an umbrella term for what are now usually viewed as a number of distinct scientific disciplines. ... Russian Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к) is the national academy of Russia. ... A physician is a person who practices medicine. ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ...

Langsdorff first participated as naturalist and physician in the great Russian scientific circumnavigation expedition commanded by Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern, from 1803 to 1805. He left the expedition in Kamchatkato explore the Aleutians, Kodiak and Sitka; and returned from San Francisco by ship to Siberia and thence to Saint Petersburg by land, arriving in 1808. To circumnavigate a place, such as an island, a continent, or the Earth, is to travel all the way around it by boat or ship. ... Adam Johann Ritter von Krusenstern was a Baltic German explorer and admiral in the Russian Empire who led the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth. ... 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Kamchatka is the land of volcanoes. ... Looking down the Aleutians from an airplane. ... Kodiak is: An island and borough in Alaska A city located on that island A type of bear, Ursus arctos middendorffi, also known as the Alaskan Brown bear A type of snus, made of premium wintergreen tobacco. ... Sitka City and Borough is a borough located on the west side of Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean, in the state of Alaska. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Siberia Siberia (Russian: , common English transliterations: Sibir’, Sibir; from the Tatar for “sleeping land”) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1813 Langsdorff was nominated consul general of Russia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He acquired a farm (named "Mandioca", or manioc) in the north of Rio and collected plants, animals and minerals. He hosted and entertained foreign naturalists and scientists, such as Johann Baptist von Spix (1781-1826) and Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794-1868), and explored the flora, fauna and geography of the province of Minas Gerais with French naturalist Augustin Saint-Hilaire from 1813 to 1820. 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... For modern diplomatic consuls, see Consulate general. ... Ipanema beach Cristo Redentor A NASA satellite image of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro (meaning River of January in Portuguese) is the name of both a state and a city in southeastern Brazil. ... Binomial name Manihot esculenta Crantz Cassava or manioc (Manihot esculenta; also yuca in Spanish, and mandioca, aipim, or macaxera in Portuguese) is a woody perennial shrub of the spurge family, that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop for its edible starchy tuberous root. ... Johann Baptist von Spix (February 9, 1781 - March 14, 1826) was a German naturalist. ... Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (April 17, 1794–December 13, German botanist and explorer. ... Minas Gerais is one of the states of Brazil, the second most populous in the federation. ... Augustin François César Prouvençal de Saint-Hilaire (1799-1853), French botanist and traveller, was born at Orleans on October 4, 1799. ...

The Langsdorff Expedition

Chart of the Langsdorff expedition itenerary in Brazil

In 1821 he proposed to the Tsar Alexander I and to the Academy of Sciences to lead an ambitious exploratory and scientific expedition from São Paulo to Pará, in the Amazon, via a fluvial route. In March 1822, he returned to Rio in the company of scientists Édouard Ménétries (1802-1861), Ludwig Riedel (1761-1861), Christian Hasse and Nester Gaverilovitch Rubtsov (1799-1874), who would take care of zoological, botanical, astronomical and cartographical observations during the expedition. With the aim of illustrating and documenting his findings, the Baron hired painters Hércules Florence, Johann Moritz Rugendas and Adrien Taunay. 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Aleksandr Pavlovich Romanov or Tsar Alexander I (The Blessed), (Russian: Александр I Павлович) (December 23, 1777–December 1, 1825), Emperor of Russia (reigned March 23, 1801–December 1, 1825), King of Poland (reigned 1815–1825), son of the Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, afterwards Paul I, and Maria Fedorovna, daughter of the Duke... See also explorations, sea explorers, astronaut, conquistador, travelogue, the History of Science and Technology and Biography. ... This article is about the Brazilian state, São Paulo. ... Pará is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northern part of the country. ... A river in the Amazon rainforest The Amazon is a rainforest in South America. ... Édouard Ménétries (October 2, 1802 - April 10, 1861) was a French entomologist. ... Ludwig Riedel (b. ... Antoine Hércule Romuald Florence (1804-1879) was a French-Brazilian painter and inventor, who became famous for being a predecessor of the invention of photography. ...

After extensive preparations, the Langsdorff Expedition departed with 40 people and 7 boats from Porto Feliz, by the Tietê river on June 22, 1826 and reached Cuiabá, in Mato Grosso on January 30, 1827. The expedition was then divided into two groups: the first one, with Langsdorff and Florence, was able to reach Santarém on the Amazon River on July 1st, 1828, with enormous difficulties and suffering. Most of the members of the expedition became ill with tropical fevers (most probably malaria), including the Baron de Langsdorff. As a consequence of the febrile attacks, he became insane at the Juruena River on May 1828. Adrien Taunay died by drowning in the Guaporé river and Rugendas abandoned the expedition before its fluvial phase. Therefore only Florence remained during the whole expedition. The expedition was joined again in Belém and returned by ship to Rio de Janeiro. arriving on March 13, 1829, almost three years and 6,000 km after its departure. Porto Feliz is a municipality/county in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. ... The Tietê River (Portuguese name: Rio Tietê) is a river in the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil. ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1826 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Cuiabá is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. ... Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, located in the western part of the country. ... January 30 is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... There are a number of places called Santarém: Santarém, Brazil Santarém, Portugal Santarém is also a Portuguese cheese. ... Length 6,296 km Elevation of the source 5,597 m Average discharge 219,000 m³/s Area watershed 6,915,000 km² Origin  Nevado Mismi Mouth  Atlantic Ocean Basin countries Brazil (62. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... 1828 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Red blood cell infected with Malaria (Italian: bad air; formerly called ague or marsh fever in English) is an infectious disease which in humans causes about 350-500 million infections and approximately 1. ... 1828 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the city in Brazil. ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

The rich scientific records of the expedition, comprising many descriptions and discoveries in zoology, botany, mineralogy, medicine, linguistics and ethnography were lost for a century in institutions in Moscow and Leningrad. They were found again in 1930. Due to the travel's hardships, Langsdorff team was unable to collect many biological specimens or study them in detail, so most of their account is geographic and ethnographic, being particularly interesting on the many indigenous people of Brazil they met, many of which became extinct. Today, a large part of the material has been recovered and is in the Ethographic Museum, the Zoological Museum and in the repositories of the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg. Zoology (Greek zoon = animal and logos = word) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ... Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ... Mineralogy is an earth science that involves the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals. ... Medicine on the Web NLM (National Library of Medicine, contains resources for patients and healthcare professionals) Virtual Hospital (digital health sciences library by the University of Iowa) Online Medical Dictionary Collection of links to free medical resources Categories: Medicine | Health ... Broadly conceived, linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and a linguist is someone who engages in this study. ... Ethnography (from the Greek ethnos = nation and graphein = writing) refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on fieldwork. ... Saint Basils Cathedral and Spasskaya Tower of Moscow Kremlin at Red Square. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. ... The indigenous peoples of Brazil (povos indígenas in Portuguese) comprise a large number of distict ethnic groups who inhabited the countrys present territory prior its discovery by Europeans around 1500. ...

Langsdorff returned to Europe shortly thereafter, in 1830, and died in Freiburg, Germany, in 1852. 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Freiburg city from Schlossberg Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Breisgau region, on the western edge of the southern Black Forest (German: Schwarzwald) with about 200,000 inhabitants. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Bibliography

• LANGSDORFF, G. H. von. Voyages and Travels in Various Parts of the World, during the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, and 1807. Illustrated by Engravings from Original Drawings. London: Printed for Henry Colburn and Sold by George Goldie, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin, 1813.
• Barman, Roderick J., "The Forgotten Journey: Georg Heinrich Langsdorff and the Russian Imperial Scientific Expedition to Brazil, 1821-1829," Terrae Incognitae, 3, 1971, 67-96

Media

A film documentary, featuring Adriana Florence, a grand-grand-grand-daughter of Hércules Florence living in Campinas, Brazil, has been made by the Discovery Channel and retraces part of the expedition's itinerary. It also visited St. Petersburg's Langsdorff museum collections. The director was Mauricio Dias. A documentary is a work in a visual or auditory medium presenting political, scientific, social, or historical subjects in a factual and informative manner. ... Campinas is a city and county (município) located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. ... Discovery Channel is an American cable TV network, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, that has a variety of science programming, particularly documentaries and nature shows. ...

External links

• Indians in Brazil. In Portuguese.
• Tras las Huellas de la Expedición Langsdorff. Discovery Channel in Spanish.