Oscar Ferdinand Peschel (17 March 1826,Dresden – 13 August 1875,Leipzig) was a Germangeographer andanthropologist.[1]
As the son of an officer and teacher at the localmilitary school, Peschel studied law from 1845 to 1848 in Leipzig andHeidelberg. In 1850 he joined the editorial staff of theAugsburger Allgemeine Zeitung. In 1854 he took over the editorship for the journalDas Ausland,[2] of which he continued until the end of March 1871.
In 1871 he became a full professor of the newly established chair of geography at theUniversity of Leipzig.[2] This is thus the fourth oldest chair of geography in Germany afterBerlin,Göttingen andBonn.[3]
Peschel 1858 corresponding member of theBavarian Academy of Sciences. Shortly before his death he was also a regular member of the Royal Saxon Society of Sciences in Leipzig.[4]
In 1871 he became a full professor of the newly established Chair of Geography at theUniversity of Leipzig, he was also a prominent corresponding member of theBavarian Academy of Sciences. Peschel is most remembered for his bookThe Races of Man: and their geographical distribution (1876) which classifies man into seven races:Australoids, (Papuans), (Melanesians),Mongoloids,Dravidians,Bushmen (Capoids),Negroids andMediterraneans (Caucasoids - the race itself is divided by Peschel into the Hamite, Semite, and Indo-European families).
Peschel Island in theSvalbard archipelago is named after Peschel.[6]
