August Ferdinand von Veltheim (18 September 1741 Harbke – 2 October 1801.

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

) was a German mineralogist and geologist, and came from the aristocratic family of

Veltheim Veltheim (historically known as Veltheim an der Ohe) is a municipality in the district of Wolfenbüttel, in Lower Saxony, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the secon ...

. He was known as August Ferdinand Graf von Veltheim from 1798 after acquiring the title of '

Graf (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

'. He attended the Kloster Berge school (Pädagogium) near

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

between 1756 and 1758. He was introduced to the world of mining by Friedrich Anton von Heynitz, a mining official and later Minister of Industry under

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

. In 1760 he enrolled for a course on mineralogy at the

University of Helmstedt The University of Helmstedt (german: Universität Helmstedt; official Latin name: ''Academia Julia'', "Julius University"), was a university in Helmstedt in the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel that existed from 1576 until 1810. History Found ...

. In 1763 he became financial advisor to the Duke of Braunschweig, and in this capacity made numerous trips to mines and saltworks of the region in the company of his father Friedrich August von Veltheim (1709-1775). In 1766 he was promoted to Inspector of Mines in the mineral-rich mining district of the

Harz Mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

. After the death of his first son and first wife in 1779, Veltheim resigned his post and for some years withdrew from public life. He was appointed privy councillor to the Duke of Braunschweig, and in 1790 was named general inspector of mines and saltworks in the western extremities of Russia by Catherine the Great. Veltheim still preferred the tranquil life of Harbke, a place to which he soon returned, where, in the grounds of Uarbke Castle, he carried on developing the widely acclaimed public gardens started by his father.http://www.gaerten-parks.de/biografien.html His home became a gathering place for celebrities in the social, scientific and literary worlds. The Castle boasted a large library, cabinets displaying minerals and fossils, and collections of engravings. Veltheim planned to write a treatise on the formation of the earth, but only managed to complete the first part, 'Etwas über die Bildung des Basalts' and which was published in Leipzig in 1787; a second edition appeared in 1789. Historically this was an important work since it correctly attributed granite to arising from volcanic processes. Veltheim broke with the Wernerian doctrine, then popular in German geological science. Veltheim published very few works, and even those had a small circulation. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Helmstedt in 1793. The plant genus ''

Veltheimia ''Veltheimia'' is a genus of perennial plants native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae Scilloideae (named after the genus '' Scilla'', "squill") is a subfamily of bulbous plants within the ...

'' was named in his honour by the botanist Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (1714-1786).

Genealogy

August Ferdinand's parents were Friedrich August von Veltheim (21 October 1709 Harbke - 19 April 1775 Braunschweig) and Maria Anna Katharina Kameytsky von Elstibors (1709-1760), who had married on 19 November 1732 in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest ...

. They had produced 4 children *Sophie Charlotte von Veltheim (1735-1793), *August Ferdinand von Veltheim, Graf von Veltheim (1741-1801), *Friedrich Wilhelm von Veltheim (1743-1803), *Carl Christian Septimus von Veltheim auf Ostrau (1751-1796) August Ferdinand von Veltheim's 1st marriage was on 4 June 1771 at Harbke to Philippine Friederike von dem Bussche-Lohe (died 28 April 1778 at Zellerfeld). Their marriage produced 2 children *Friedrich Adolf Graf von Veltheim (who died young) *Adelheid von Veltheim (2 January 1774 - 12 January 1821) A year after his wife's death August Ferdinand was married for a 2nd time on 21 May 1779 at Gröba to Ottonia Henriette von Arnim (25 January 1760 - 16 March 1803). This union produced 5 children *Röttger Graf von Veltheim (25.01.1781-27.03.1848) *Werner Graf von Veltheim (18.02.1785-05.06.1860) *Klara Gräfin von Veltheim (13.06.1790-?) *Marianne Albertine Gräfin von Veltheim (26.02.1794-10.05.1844) x Franz Wilhelm Werner von Veltheim (10.11.1785-31.12.1839) *Armgard von Veltheim (?-?)

Works

*Grundriss einer Mineralogie. (Braunschweig, 1781) *Etwas uber die Bildung des Basalts und die vormalige Beschaffenheit der Gebirge in Deutschland. (Leipzig, 1787) *Ueber der Herren Werner und Karsten - Reformen in der Mineralogie; nebst Anmerkungen über die ältere und neuere Benennung einiger Stein-Arten. (Helmstedt, 1793) *Etwas über Memnons Bildsaule, Neros Smaragd, Toreutik und die Kunst der Alten in Stein und Glas zu schneiden, als Zustse zur Abhandlung über die Reformen in der Mineralogie. (Helmstedt, 1793) *Etwas uber die Onyxgebirge des Ctesias, und den Handel der Admsten nach Ostindien. (Helmstedt, 1797) *Sammlung einiger Aufsätze historischen, antiquarischen, mineralogischen und ähnlichen Inhalts. (Helmstedt, 1800)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veltheim, August Ferdinand von German mineralogists 18th-century German geologists