Alexander von Humboldt: biography of the father of Geography

Although Alexander von Humboldt cultivated a whole range of sciences, his main legacy was the consolidation of geography as a science.

Below we can discover more details about his life, through a biography of Alexander von Humboldt in which you will know the great contributions of him in the different disciplines in which he collaborated throughout his career.

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Short biography of Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt was born in 1769, in the city of Berlin, at that time belonging to the Kingdom of Prussia. His father, Alexander Georg, was a prestigious military man, serving under the Prussian monarch, Frederick II the Great. Her mother, Marie Elisabeth, came from a family with a good economic and social situation, a widow as well as a first marriage, which had provided her with an important inheritance.

A sample of the high position of the von Humboldt family is the good relationship they maintained with the royal family, to the point that the heir to the Prussian throne was the godfather of little Alexander von Humboldt, a fact that was obviously unusual and symbolized the importance that this family had in the Prussian high society of the epoch.

The von Humboldt marriage had another son, Wilhelm, who in the future would be, like his brother, a man of prestige, cultivated in different sciences, who would also leave a brilliant legacy. Therefore, it is evident that in Alexander von Humboldt's house an intellectual environment prevailed that favored the two brothers to reach the highest levels in their respective fields.

In fact, Alexander was instructed in his own residence, which was none other than Tegel Castle. It was his father who personally chose the educators of his children, so he selected the most prestigious teachers, enlightened. Special mention should be made of Joachim Heinrich Campe, one of Alexander von Humboldt's tutors, who curious about natural sciences, especially zoology, botany, or science. geology.

Sadly, Alexander and Wilhelm's parent passed away when they were ten and twelve, respectively. Therefore, her mother was widowed a second time. She was in charge of managing the family finances so that her children continue to receive the best possible education, even if this meant giving up certain luxuries which, because of his position, might have permitted.

Alexander von Humboldt He not only excelled very early in the scientific subjects that he learned, but also in the arts, as he was instructed in them in order to learn painting and drawing techniques, which would serve to get to expose some of his creations no less than at the Berlin Academy. This talent would also be realized later in the quality of the illustrations he created for the notebooks recounting his voyages.

Youth and first trips

Although at first Alexander von Humboldt wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father and become a prestigious military man, his mother advised him not to do so. When he reached adulthood, he attended the University of Frankfurt to receive financial education over the course of one semester. Later he would enroll at the University of Göttingen, which his brother Wilhelm was already attending, although learning other disciplines.

At this stage of his life, Alexander had the opportunity to learn from Georg Foster. Foster was a German naturalist who had been part of the crew of James Cook himself, one of the greatest English explorers in history, on the second of his voyages.

Thanks to this friendship, he soon began a hobby that would mark Alexander von Humboldt's career forever, that of research trips. In this way, he would embark together with Georg Foster on a journey through the waters of the Rhine to reach Holland, and then continue his journey through France, to English lands.

Once in england Alexander was able to meet Sir Joseph Banks, another of James Cook's companions on his adventures, who was also the president of the Royal Society. Humboldt was able to access the plant samples that Banks had collected during his travels through the seas of the southern hemisphere, which definitely convinced him to dedicate his life to exploring and investigation.

As a result of this trip, Alexander von Humboldt was able to publish his first work, "Mineralogical observations on various basalts of the river Rhine". Once he was clear about what he wanted to dedicate his career to, he decided to train to be a great explorer. In Hamburg he had the opportunity to learn different languages ​​and specialize in trade and He likewise attended the Freiberg School of Mines, where he acquired the knowledge on geology that needed. Not only that, he also trained in astronomy and anatomy.

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Europe travel

After completing his training at the school of mines, Alexander von Humboldt he received a position to lead the management of some gold mines in Bayreuth and Fichtel. His work was excellent and he managed to significantly increase the extraction of this mineral. At the same time, he was a strong advocate for miners and even took it upon himself to create a school for them to receive the best possible training so that they could work safely.

His work in the mines allowed him to publish a work on the botany of the area that came into the hands of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who immediately wanted to contact Humboldt. Thus began a close friendship and scientific collaboration between the two intellectuals. These collaborations led Alexander to visit the University of Jena frequently, where his brother was also staying.

He entered the circle of Weimar classicism, where some of the brightest minds of the time were to be found.. He continued to travel around Europe and meet other prestigious scientists, with whom he shared knowledge. These trips took him to Vienna, Switzerland or Italy. At this time, 1796, the mother of the von Humboldt brothers passed away and it was clear that none of them had a good relationship with her, since they did not attend her funeral.

Travel in america

From 1799 the stage of the great travels through America of Alexander von Humboldt begins. He practically spent the rest of his life doing scientific explorations on this continent. He went to Madrid to apply to the Spanish authorities for an official permit to visit the overseas dominions of Spain. As he did not need financing, he had no problems in obtaining said authorization and thus he embarked on the first great adventure, bound for America, stopping in Tenerife.

Although they were originally going to Havana, Cuba, an outbreak of typhoid fever forced the captain of the ship Pizarro to change plans and land in Cumaná, Venezuela. Alexander von Humboldt settled in the Aragua Valley to observe the crops that were being made and in fact he was the first in considering the repercussions that the exploitation of land by the hand of man could have, originating the idea of ​​change climate.

Later He began an expedition through the waters of the Orinoco River over four months, discovering indigenous tribes in remote places and truly exotic animal species and of scientific interest such as the dangerous river eels, which came to kill some of the horses with their electric shocks. Humboldt was a great student of electricity and magnetism, so this animal was of immense importance for his research.

In 1800 he went with his team to Cuba, beginning a great series of scientific works in these lands. His work was so important that he is considered the second discoverer of the island. After a brief visit to Europe, he would return to America, this time to visit the Andes, Ecuador, Peru and finally, New Spain, today Mexico. He was already in 1803. They toured the territories of the viceroyalty until they reached Mexico City, a place that shocked Alexander.

He inspected the Valencian silver mine in Guanajuato, which was the mine that extracted the most material for the Spanish Empire during that time. He did a tremendous analysis of the operation of this infrastructure. He also dedicated efforts to study the pre-Columbian cultures of these territories, especially regarding cultural and artistic manifestations. The Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain was the great compilation of these investigations.

In 1804 he was already in the United States, even collaborating with President Thomas Jefferson, who was also a scientist.. He made a report on the borders of Louisiana, a territory recently acquired by the US. That same year, Alexander von Humboldt would return to Europe, after five years of research in America.

Last years and death

Those of America would not be the only great voyages of Alexander, who many years later, In 1829, he began a journey through Russia, traveling more than 15,000 km in just over six months. He made reports about the mining possibilities in the area and also took the opportunity to investigate organisms from remote places in the Siberian steppe.

Alexander von Humboldt died after a long life, aged 89, in 1859, in Berlin, the same place where he had been born.

Bibliographic references:

• Rebok, S. (2003). Alexander Von Humboldt's American Expedition and His Contribution to 19th Century Science. Bulletin de l'Institut français d'études andines.
• Rupke, N.A. (2008). Alexander von Humboldt: a metabiography. The University of Chicago Press.
• Wulf, A. (2016). The Invention of Nature: The New World by Alexander von Humboldt. Taurus.