Adelbert von chamisso biography

Adelbert von Chamisso

German poet and botanist (1781–1838)

"Cham." redirects here. For other uses, see Cham.

Adelbert von Chamisso

Portrait, 1831

Born

Louis Charles Adélaïde de Chamissot


(1781-01-30)30 January 1781

Ante, Champagne, Kingdom of France

Died21 August 1838(1838-08-21) (aged 57)

Berlin, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia

CitizenshipPrussia
Occupation(s)Poet and botanist
Known forPeter Schlemihl, the man who sold his shadow, Views and Remarks on a Voyage of Discovery, Description of a Voyage Round the World, description of many trees of Mexico
SpouseAntonie Piaste
Parents
  • Louis Marie, Count of Chamisso (father)
  • Anne Marie Gargam (mother)
AwardsPrussian Academy of Sciences
Scientific career
Author abbrev. (botany)Cham.

Adelbert von Chamisso (German pronunciation:[ˈaːdl̩bɛʁtfɔnʃaˈmɪso]; 30 January 1781 – 21 August 1838) was a German poet, writer and botanist. He was commonly known in French as Adelbert de Chamisso (or Chamissot) de Boncourt, a n

French-born explorer and naturalist Adelbert von Chamisso (full name: Louis Charles Adélaïde de Chamisso de Boncourt) (1781-1838) visited the San Francisco Bay area in the early nineteenth century. During his time in California, Chamisso studied a number of indigenous plant and animal species and his inventory is considered a valuable ecological record to this day.




On October 2, 1816, a two-masted brig flying the colors of the Russian Imperial Navy arrived in the San Francisco Bay. Named the Rurik for a Viking explorer of Russia, the ship had rounded Cape Horn and explored islands in the South Pacific during its fifteen months at sea. On board were four scientists--including Adelbert von Chamisso, a naturalist, linguist, botanist, and romantic writer. Throughout the month of October, Adelbert von Chamisso compiled an inventory of many plant and animal species in the bay area. Chamisso is best known locally for giving a Latin name to the California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, which he described based on specimens found at the Presidio. He named the poppy in honor of

Adelbert von Chamisso was a German poet and botanist, author of Peter Schlemihl, a famous story about a man who sold his shadow. He was commonly known in French as Adelbert de Chamisso(t) de Boncourt, a name referring to the family estate at Boncourt.

The son of Louis Marie, Count of Chamisso, by his marriage to Anne Marie Gargam, Chamisso began life as Louis Charles Adélaïde de Chamissot at the château of Boncourt at Ante, in Champagne, France, the ancestral seat of his family. His name appears in several forms, one of the most common being Ludolf Karl Adelbert von Chamisso.

In 1790, the French Revolution drove his parents out of France with their seven children, and they went successively to Liège, the Hague, Wurzburg, and Bayreuth, before settling in Berlin. There, in 1796 the young Chamisso was fortunate in obtaining the post of page-in-waiting to the queen of Prussia, and in 1798 he entered a Prussian infantry regiment as an ensign to train for a career as an army officer.

Shortly thereafter, thanks to the Peace of Tilsit, his family was able to return to France, but Cha

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