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Philippi Rudolf Amandus (14.09.1808 - 23.07.1904)
Born in Charlottenburg (now the Charlottenburg district in the western part of Berlin). He spent his childhood in Switzerland, where the family moved in 1818. Rudolph and his younger brother Bernard studied at the famous boarding school of Johann Pestalozzi in Yverdon. From 1826 to 1830 he studied at the University of Berlin, where he received the education of a surgeon. Since 1835 - Professor of the Polytechnic School in Kassel (Hessen Land). In 1848, during the German revolution, Filippi was elected director of the Polytechnic School. After the Bavarian and Austrian troops invaded Hesse at the end of December 1850, an absolute monarchy was restored and repression began against individuals who supported the republican regime, Filippi abandoned all posts and left Kassel. For about six months he lived with his family in the village of Grunenplan (the duchy of Braunschweig, now the land of Lower Saxony), and in 1851 he moved to Chile at the invitation of his brother Bernard, who on behalf of the Chilean government organized immigration from Germany to this country. Philippi headed the Department of Botany and Zoology at the University of Chile in Santiago, as well as the University’s Museum of Natural History. Filippi devoted many years to the study of the climate and vegetation of Chile in the territory from Atacama to Chiloe Island. He made a great contribution to the development of science teaching in Chile. In 1882 he founded the botanical garden in Santiago, gathered a rich collection of flora of Chile. The museum in Valdivia is named after him. Died in Santiago, buried in the city cemetery (Cementerio General de Santiago) Glacier on Edge Island, Svalbard. The coordinates are 77°43'N 21°50'E. |
