Hermann Burmeister | |
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| Born | Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (1807-01-15)15 January 1807 Stralsund,Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany |
| Died | 2 May 1892(1892-05-02) (aged 85) Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Nationality | German, Argentine |
| Other names | Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister |
| Education | University of Greifswald, University of Halle,Humboldt University of Berlin |
| Known for | Handbuch der Entomologie |
| Spouse | Marie Elise Sommer |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | zoology, entomology, herpetology, botany, and coleopterology |
| Institutions | University of Halle,National University of Córdoba, Argentina |
| Patrons | Alexander von Humboldt |
| Thesis | De insectorum systemate naturali |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Burmeist. |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | Burmeister |
Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (also known asCarlos Germán Conrado Burmeister) (15 January 1807 – 2 May 1892) was aGerman Argentinezoologist,entomologist,herpetologist,botanist, andcoleopterologist. He served as a professor at theUniversity of Halle, headed the museum there and published theHandbuch der Entomologie (1832–1855) before moving to Argentina where he worked until his death.
Burmeister was born inStralsund, where his father was a customs officer. He studied medicine atGreifswald (1825–1827) andHalle (1827–1829), and in 1830 went toBerlin to qualify himself to be a teacher of natural history. His dissertation was titledDe insectorum systemate naturali and graduated as a doctor of medicine on November 4, 1829 and then received a doctor of philosophy on December 19 in the same year. He then joined for military service in Berlin and Grünberg (Silesia). He was soon after appointed an instructor in thegymnasium atCologne.[1] He later became a professor of zoology at theMartin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg serving there from 1837 to 1861. During this period he published several major works on insects which also involved the examination of insect collections around Europe and those of wealthy collectors. He married Marie Elise, the daughter of shipowner and insect collector M.C. Sommer of Altona, in 1836.
In 1848, during therevolutionary excitement, he was sent by the city ofHalle as deputy to thenational assembly, and subsequently by the town ofLeibnitz to the firstPrussian chamber.[2] Around 1848 he became a socialist and still later opposed slavery. He traveled to Brazil from 1850 to 1852, partly supported through the efforts ofAlexander von Humboldt was cut short by a leg injury. He then visitedArgentina from 1857 to 1860, returning to Germany with zoological collections. He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1856.[3] In 1861, he divorced his wife and went to live in Argentina, founding the Institute at theMuseo Nacional in Buenos Aires. He married an Argentine woman and they had two sons, Carlos and Federico. Carlos also became a scientist. Burmeister headed the Academy of Sciences, formed from the scientific faculty of Argentina'sNational University of Córdoba.[2] He took an interest in paleontology and was keenly interested in protecting fossils in the pampas region and helped the passage of a law.[4][5]
In the field ofherpetology he described many newspecies ofamphibians[6] andreptiles.[7] He alsomistakenly described abovidatlas as belonging toMacrauchenia patachonica.[8] Burmeister was said to be harsh and did not have any close circle of friends. While working at the Argentine museum, he had a fall from a ladder and landed on a glass case and injured himself seriously on 8 February 1892. He resigned from work on 18 April and died on 2 May. A state funeral was held on the 4 May and the president of Argentina,Carlos Pellegrini was present. A monument was placed on the bank of the Rio de La Plata in theParque 3 Febrero on October 7, 1900 and later moved to theParque Centenario.[4]
Burmeister was a critic ofDarwinism, he rejectedcommon descent.[9] However, he changed his views slightly on common descent in the late 1870s. In 1879 he commented that:
I am wholly convinced that the beings found in the older formations of our globe are the prototypes of contemporary beings, and in this respect, I declare myself a partisan of the hypothesis recently developed in detail, and as a natural law, by Darwin and his followers. But I must confess that their experiments have not provided me with any proof that any fundamental change in type is possible.[9]
Florentino Ameghino described Burmeister as a "Biblicalcreationist", although this remains unconfirmed.[9]
Cooper, Thompson (1884)."Burmeister, Hermann" .Men of the Time (eleventh ed.). London: George Routledge & Sons. p. 192.| International | |
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