Johann Gmelin German naturalist in Russian service, doctor, botanist, ethnographer, traveler, explorer of Siberia and the Urals Date of Birth: 08.08.1709 Country: Germany

Biography of Johann Georg Gmelin

Johann Georg Gmelin was a German naturalist who served in Russia as a doctor, botanist, ethnographer, traveler, and explorer of Siberia and the Urals. He was born in southwest Germany, the son of a pharmacist. Gmelin received a home education and became a student at the University of Tübingen at the age of 13. In 1725, at the age of 16, he graduated from the medical faculty with a degree in medicine.

Upon the advice of his father, a university professor, and a family friend, the scientist G. Bülfinger, Johann Gmelin moved to Russia in the summer of 1727. He arrived in St. Petersburg with a letter of recommendation and a collection of natural fossils, which were handed over to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In August 1727, he began an internship at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. While his appointment as a professor was being considered, he received a monthly stipend of 10 rubles.

In 1731, Gmelin was appointed as an adjunct professor of chemistry and natural history at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He was actively involved in the publication of the works of the botany professor I.H. Buchsbaum. Gmelin became a full member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1731, holding the position of professor of chemistry and natural history.

In 1733, Gmelin joined the Second Kamchatka Expedition led by Vitus Bering. As part of this expedition, he explored the coast of Russia from Archangel to Kolyma, the Sea of Okhotsk, and Kamchatka. The expedition also made voyages to the shores of Japan and Northwest America, and explored the Kuril and Aleutian Islands. Gmelin chose a route through Yaroslavl, Kazan, Tobolsk, Semipalatinsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Tomsk, Yeniseisk, and Irkutsk to Yakutsk. He then returned to St. Petersburg via Irkutsk, Tomsk, Verkhoturye, Veliky Ustyug, Vologda, and Schlüsselburg.

During his travels, Gmelin extensively studied the flora and fauna of Siberia and the Urals, and made important discoveries of mineral resources. He also described the geographical features, peoples, and history of the region. His expeditions covered a distance of about 34,000 kilometers in 10 years, laying the foundation for scientific research in Siberia.

After returning to St. Petersburg, Gmelin began working on the analysis of the collected specimens and journals. The botanical collections formed the basis of his multi-volume work "Flora Sibirica," published between 1747 and 1759. This work described almost 1178 species of Siberian plants, including 500 new species previously unknown in Europe, and included 300 illustrations. Gmelin divided Siberia into two natural-historical provinces: Western and Eastern Siberia, based on the botanical and zoological collections from the expedition.

In 1747, Gmelin requested permission to travel to Germany for one year, with the condition that he would continue to receive a salary and carry out work. He left for Tübingen, where he became a professor of botany and chemistry at the local university until his death in 1755. During his time at Tübingen, he published his expedition journals under the title "Travels in Siberia from 1741 to 1743" in four volumes.

After his death, Gmelin's manuscripts and herbarium were brought back to St. Petersburg and sold to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Due to the publication of the first two volumes of "Flora Sibirica" before the systematic reform in botany by Carl Linnaeus, and the failure of Gmelin the younger to bring Gmelin's botanical materials into accordance with Linnaeus's system in the remaining volumes, Gmelin's authorship of most of the newly described plant species from Siberia was not preserved.