A summer in Siberia: the travel and the collection itinerary to the mouth of the Ob River by the botanist and ethno-anthropologist Stéphen Sommier in 1880

Abstract

Stéphen Sommier (1848–1922) was a renowned botanist, plant collector, ethnographer, geographer and photographer. He is best known for his scientific expeditions to Italy, Scandinavia and Russia. This study provides a detailed reconstruction of his travels and collections during the expedition he led to the mouth of the Ob River in Siberia in the summer of 1880. This voyage was of significant botanical importance, with 562 different plant taxa collected, 22 of which were described as new to science at the time. The voyage is also significant from an ethnological point of view, as Sommier was the first Italian scientist to encounter and document the various Siberian populations of the time. The places visited have been georeferenced and presented in a topographical map, which highlights the itinerary and the sites where specimens corresponding to taxa later described as new to science were collected.

Keywords

• Botanic explorations
• conservation
• ethno-anthropology
• geography
• natural history