Dr. Alfredo Jahn Hartman (8 October 1867 – 12 July 1940) was a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

. Jahn was a member of the Academy of History, the Academy of Physical Sciences,

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and Naturalist of Venezuela and the Venezuelan Society of Natural Sciences and achieved the

Order of the Liberator The Order of the Liberator was the highest distinction of Venezuela and was appointed for services to the country, outstanding merit and benefits made to the community. For Venezuelans the order ranks first in the order of precedence from other or ...

. He was also an

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and

mountain climber Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

. There is a large cave named after Jahn, "Cueva Alfredo Jahn" (The Alfredo Jahn cave). In 1911 he became the first person to

ascend ASCEND is an open source, mathematical modelling chemical process modelling system developed at Carnegie Mellon University since late 1978. ASCEND is an acronym which stands for Advanced System for Computations in Engineering Design. Its main us ...

Pico Humboldt Pico Humboldt is Venezuela's second highest peak, at 4,925 metres above sea level. It is located in the Sierra Nevada de Merida, in the Venezuelan Andes of (Mérida State). The peak, its sister peak Pico Bonpland, and the surrounding páramos ar ...

in the

Sierra Nevada de Mérida The Sierra Nevada de Mérida is the highest mountain range in the largest massif in Venezuela, the Cordillera de Mérida, which in turn is part of the northern extent of the Cordillera de los Andes (Andes Mountains). The Sierra Nevada de Mérida i ...

in Venezuela.

Background and personal life

Alfredo Jahn was the son of Friedrich Gottfried Alfred Jahn Wassmann, born in Caracas on 10 June 1846, and Eugenia Hartmann, born in

Bremen, Germany Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

on 8 July 1847. In 1876 he was taken to

Hanover, Germany Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany a ...

, and entered the Secondary School of the locality. He continued studies at

Torgau Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen. Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies forces first ...

, Saxony province, where he received military training. In 1882 he went to Berlin to continue his education for a short time, returning again to the Hannover School of Engineering. For family reasons he was forced to return to Caracas, where he continued studies at the

Universidad Central de Venezuela The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in L ...

, where he majored in

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

s under the leadership of Adolf Ernst. On 25 July 1891 he married Aurelia Lopez. They had a total of 10 children. *Maria Aurelia Jahn Lopez born in Caracas on 13 June 1892 *Eugenia Jahn Lopez born in Maracay on 23 August 1893 *Alfredo Jahn Lopez born in La Victoria on 4 April 1895 *Gustavo Jahn Lopez born in La Victoria on 25 July 1896 *Margarita Jahn Lopez born in La Victoria on 6 October 1898 *Carlos Jahn Lopez born in La Victoria on 19 December 1899 *Luisa Cristina Jahn Lopez born in La Victoria on 21 June 1901 *Carmen Jahn Lopez born in Caracas on 31 January 1904 *Angelina Jahn Lopez born in Caracas on 27 May 1905 *Isabel Jahn Lopez born in Caracas on 30 January 1910

Career

Jahn finished his studies at the end of 1886, and became an assistant engineer on railway construction. The following year, he participated in the preliminary studies for the construction of a major railroad between Caracas and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

with extension to San Carlos. He worked with civil engineer and lawyer German Jimenez in the National Plan of Highways and Railroads of

by order of the National Government. He was responsible for the construction of the railroad from

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

. He also built the highway from Caracas to El Junquito. In 1887 he accompanied the Venezuelan chemist Vicente Marcano on a scientific expedition to the upper

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

river, sent by President

Antonio Guzmán Blanco Antonio José Ramón de La Trinidad y María Guzmán Blanco (28 February 1829 – 28 July 1899) was a Venezuelan military leader, statesman, diplomat and politician. He was the president of Venezuela for three separate terms, from 1870 until 1 ...

. The trip provided geographical positions and a collection of plants and

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

objects found today in the US and Germany. He was in charge of the geographical and botanical part, which began the work of measuring and triangulation of the mountain ranges and sites and cities between Valencia and Caracas. He also carried out the topographic survey of the Lake Valencia basin and several scientific expeditions to the western region of Venezuela.1 Jahn combined his work as a

with his work in botany, as both required scientific work through extensive exploration. He completed measurements and triangulations of the

Venezuelan Coastal Range The Venezuelan Coastal Range ( es, Cordillera de la Costa or ), also known as Venezuelan Caribbean Mountain System ( es, Sistema Montañoso Caribe) is a mountain range system and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, that runs along the c ...

and various sites and cities between Valencia and Caracas. He also carried out a topographic survey of the Lake Valencia

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

. He lived with the

Indians of the West of Venezuela and wrote books on their customs and dialects. As a

he classified many plants in Venezuela, donated botanical samples to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, and wrote a book on the Palms of Venezuela (''the Palms of the Flora Venezuelana'' – Caracas 1908). He was a founding member of the Venezuelan Society of Natural Sciences, and served as its president in 1935 and 1937. academiasnacionales.gov.ve
Alfredo Jahn
He received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

, and the Medal of the

Berlin Geographical Society Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. He received the

. The Alfredo Jahn Cave in Miranda is named for him; it is the sixth largest in the country.Alfredo Jahn Natural Monument
/ref>

Legacy

The following species of plants are named after him: * '' Annona jahnii'' Saff.

Bibliography

Jahn wrote 41 works between scientific books and pamphlets, and 52 articles for newspapers and magazines, including: *''La altitud de Caracas''. Caracas: Tipografía Americana, 1919. *''Aspectos físicos de Venezuela''. Caracas: Editorial Cecilio Acosta, 1941. *''Contribución a la hidrografía del

y Río Negro''.

: Tipografía Universal, 1904. *''La cordillera venezolana de los Andes''.

: Revista Técnica del Ministerio de Obras Públicas, 1912. *''Los aborígenes del occidente de Venezuela: su historia, etnografía y afinidades lingüísticas.''

Monte Ávila Editores Monte Ávila Editores is the largest and most important publishing house in Venezuela. Between 1980 and 2000 it published over 300 titles, largely by Venezuelan authors, producing over 1.2m copies. Founded in 1968 on the initiative of author Sim� ...

, 1973. *''Los cráneos deformados de los aborígenes de los valles de Aragua: observaciones antropológicas.''

: Lit. del Comercio, 1932. *''Una importante contribución a la hidrografía de la Guayana venezolana.''

: Litografía y Tipografía Mercantil, 1931.

References

External links

Alfredo Jahn – VenciclopediaTribute to Papa Jahn
– maintained by his great grandson

---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Jahn, Alfredo 1867 births 1940 deaths Venezuelan civil engineers 19th-century Venezuelan botanists Venezuelan people of German descent People from Caracas 20th-century Venezuelan engineers 20th-century Venezuelan botanists