HiN - Alexander von Humboldt im Netz. Internationale Zeitschrift für Humboldt-Studien (Apr 2004)
„Vater einer großen Nachkommenschaft von Forschungsreisenden ...“ Ehrungen Alexander von Humboldts im Jahre 1869
Abstract
Article in German, Abstracts in English and GermanIn 1869 the “Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein” was founded in Magdeburg (Saxony Anhalt). That was the time when the scientific world celebrated Alexander von Humboldt’s 100th birthday. In this context, Humboldt’s achievements were remembered during the founding ceremony of that society. The paper which was read in September 2003 on a meeting of this organisation, focuses on three famous naturalists who celebrated Humboldt because they owed him much help in their own professional careers. The botanist Matthias Jacob Schleiden gave a memorial speech in 1869 in Dresden. The physiologist and pioneer of electro-biology Emil du Bois-Reymond honoured his mentor A. v. Humboldt on the occasion of the dedication of the statues of Wilhelm and Alexander in 1883 in Berlin. Charles Darwin expressed his gratitude to Humboldt by sending him in 1839 the report of his travels and received an interesting reply. These three scholars represented a new epoch in the development of the natural sciences. The paper includes a recently re-discovered letter from Humboldt to Schleiden, dated April 13, 1842.
