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Burmeister Herman (15.01.1807 - 02.05.1892)
He gathered an extensive collection of the zoological department of the University of Halle. In Argentina, he received the same recognition as Alexander von Humboldt, with whom he was friends. Born in Stralsund, Germany. He graduated from high school in Stralsund, and then from 1826 he studied medicine, first at the University of Greifswald, and from 1827 at the University of Halle. His main interest was entomology. The Burmeister received the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and then the Doctor of Philosophy. In 1830, Burmeister moved to Berlin, where he received a degree in natural history, as well as a teacher in the real gymnasium. In 1842 he became a professor of zoology in Galle. A year later, he published his work on the history of nature, "History of Creation." In 1848 he was elected to the Prussian House of Representatives in Berlin, where he joined the left side. In the summer of 1850, Burmeister took a long vacation, and in September of the same year went to Brazil. There he traveled to the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, but in June 1851 at Lagoa Santa broke his leg. This delayed him for five months in the country. In January 1852, the Burmeister returned to Europe and brought with him 800 birds, 200 bird eggs, 90 amphibians, 70 mammals and 8,000 insects. In 1856, he again went to South America, traveled around Uruguay, then went through Argentina to Mendoza, and, after some stopping, from there back to Rosario and Parana. After spending a long time in Parana, he moved to Tucuman and to the north of the Argentinean Confederation, in March 1859 he passed the Andes along the Copiano road, not yet tested by any European, and then went by sea across the Isthmus of Panama to Cuba. From Cuba in 1860, he returned to Germany and brought about 116,000 objects, including 100,000 insects. But already in the spring of 1861, Burmeister again left his professorship at Halle and went to Buenos Aires, where he has since remained a director and professor in the natural history museum he founded. In 1870, he became curator of the newly established natural history department at Cordoba University. The merits of Burmeister were awarded the Order Coronary 3rd Class from King of Prussia Wilhelm I and the Order of the Rose from the Emperor of Brazil Pedro II. He died in Buenos Aires. Mountain in the east of the island of Edge, Svalbard. Named in 1871 by Augustus Peterman. |
