Alexander von Middendorff | |
|---|---|
 von Middendorffc. 1880 | |
| Born | 18 August [O.S. 6] 1815 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Died | 24 January [O.S. 12] 1894 (aged 78) Hellenorm,Livonia Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Resting place | Hellenurme, Estonia |
| Citizenship | Russian Empire German Confederation German Empire |
| Education | Humboldt University of Berlin University of Erlangen-Nuremberg University of Vienna University of Breslau |
| Alma mater | Imperial University of Dorpat |
| Occupations |
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| Employer(s) | Kiev University St Petersburg Academy of Sciences |
Alexander Theodor von[2] Middendorff (Russian:Алекса́ндр Фёдорович Ми́ддендорф,romanized: Aleksandr Fyodorovich Middendorf; 18 August 1815 – 24 January 1894) was a Russianzoologist and explorer ofBaltic German andEstonian extraction. He was known for his expedition in 1843–45 to the extreme north and east of Siberia, describing the effects ofpermafrost on the spread of animals and plants.
Middendorff's mother, Sophia Johanson (1782–1868), the daughter of an Estonian farmer, had been sent to Saint Petersburg for education by her parents. There, she met with the future director of theSt. Petersburg Pedagogical Institute, Theodor Johann von Middendorff (1776–1856), whose father was a Baltic German pastor inKaruse,Estonia. As the two young people came from different social ranks and were unable to marry each other, their daughter Anette (b. 1809) and son Alexander were born out of wedlock. Alexander was born on 18 August 1815 in St. Petersburg,[3] but could not be baptized until six months later in the Estonian Lutheran Congregation of St. Petersburg, as the German Lutheran Congregation of St. Petersburg had not agreed to perform the baptism. In the accompanying paperwork, Middendorff's parents registered themselves as a married couple. In order to escape the attention of the public, the mother and son returned to Estonia, where they settled at thePööravere Mansion. Only in 1824, when the young Middendorff was ready to go to school, was his status legitimized when his parents finally married.[4] (Note: Although his father Theodor was Baltic German, Middendorff's middle name is sometimes spelled as "Theodorowitsch",[5]a German corruption of theRussian patronymic Федорович (Fyodorovich); "-ovich" meaning "the son of" the person (father) whose name precedes it.)
Middendorff received his early education from tutors inReval and at agymnasium inSaint Petersburg. From 1832, he pursued a medical degree at theImperial University of Dorpat where his professors includedGeorg Friedrich Parrot,Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov,Hermann Martin Asmuss, andAlexander Friedrich von Hueck. Middendorff graduated in 1837 with a dissertation (written inLatin) onpolyps in thebronchi. He then undertook further studies at theHumboldt University of Berlin,University of Erlangen-Nuremberg,University of Vienna, andUniversity of Breslau.
In 1839, under the patronage ofKarl Ernst von Baer, he became assistant professor of zoology atKiev University.
In the summer of 1840, Baer asked Middendorff to join his second expedition toNovaya Zemlya (the first one took place in 1837). Due to stormy conditions, the expedition failed to reach Novaya Zemlya, but Baer and Middendorff explored Russian and NorwegianLapland, as well as theBarents andWhite Seas. Middendorff was tasked with crossing on foot theKola Peninsula and mapping the peninsula fromKola toKandalaksha while collecting zoological and botanical material.
Baer suggested Middendorff to theSt Petersburg Academy of Sciences as leader of a follow-up expedition and supplied extended expedition instructions in 1842/43 in a print-ready typescript. They comprised over 200 pages and a permafrost map of Eurasia. From 1843 to 1845, Middendorff travelled with these instructions, to theTaymyr Peninsula and then along the coast of theSea of Okhotsk and entered the lowerAmur River valley (which at this time was Chinese territory). He published his findings inReise in den äußersten Norden und Osten Sibiriens (Travels in the extreme north and east of Siberia) in German (1848–1875), which included an account of the effects ofpermafrost on the spread of animals and plants. He also wroteDie Isepiptesen Russlands (1855), an account ofbird migration in Russia, and a monograph on molluscs,Beiträge zu einer Malacozoologia Rossica (1847–1849), in which he coined the termradula.
Baer's expedition instructions had the German title „Materialien zur Kenntniss des unvergänglichen Boden-Eises in Sibirien“ (=materials for the knowledge of the perennial ground ice in Siberia). Although print-ready in 1843, the text remained lost for more than 150 years. Thus, in 2001, the discovery and annotated publication of the typescript in the libraryarchives of theUniversity of Giessen was a scientific sensation. The full text of the expedition instructions is available online (234 pages).[6] The editor Lorenz King added to thefacsimile reprint a preface in English, two colour permafrost maps of Eurasia. The text is introduced with detailed comments and references on additional 66 pages written by the Estonian historian Erki Tammiksaar.
In 1870, Middendorff visited theBaraba steppe and in 1878 theFergana Valley.
Middendorf was married to Hedwig. His sonErnst von Middendorff was also an ornithologist.
Middendorf died in 1894 at Hellenorm, Kreis Dorpat, in Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire (now Valga County, Estonia).
Middendorff's grasshopper warbler,Cape Middendorff ofNovaya Zemlya,Kodiak bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi), andMiddendorff Bay of theTaymyr Peninsula are named after him. He coined the termaufeis.
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