Ernst Behm (4 January 1830 – 15 March 1884) was a German

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 ...

and

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

who was a native of

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

. After leaving the

Ernestine Gymnasium, Gotha The Ernestine Gymnasium (Latin name: Ernestinum, used in German) is a humanistic and modern gymnasium in Gotha, Germany, the successor of the Illustrious Gymnasium (''Gymnasium illustre''), founded in 1524, which in 1853 was merged with the rece ...

, Behm studied medicine and sciences at the Universities of

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

. In 1856 he began work at ''Petermanns Geographischen Mitteilungen'' in

, a

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

journal of

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

founded by

August Heinrich Petermann Augustus Heinrich Petermann (18 April 182225 September 1878) was a German cartographer. Early years Petermann was born in Bleicherode, Germany. When he was 14 years old he started grammar school in the nearby town of Nordhausen. His mother wa ...

(1822-1878). In 1866 he became editor of ''Geographische Jahrbuch'' (Geographic Annals, (bd. 1-66, 1866-1983),E. Behm (1866
''Geographisches Jahrbuch''. I. Band 1866.
Gotha, Justus Perthes and from 1872, with

Hermann Wagner Hermann Wagner (born May 20, 1941) is a German scientist in the field of microbiology and immunology and past Dean of the Medical Faculty of the Technical University Munich (TUM). His massive number of published works, at over 370, makes him one ...

(1840–1929), edited the geographical/statistical review, ''Die Bevölkerung der Erde''. Starting in 1876 he headed the editorial staff of the statistical section of the ''Gothaischen Hofkalenders'', and in 1878, following the death of Petermann, he became editor of ''Petermanns Geographischen Mitteilungen''. In 1872 Behm published an article (''Beweise für die Identität des Lualaba mit dem Congo''), which scientifically demonstrated that the Lualaba was a

headstream The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

of the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

. This claim was later confirmed as factual by explorer

Henry Morton Stanley Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa Cen ...

in 1877.

References

* ''This article is based on a translation of an article from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

'', which cites ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

'' (ADB), vol. 46, (Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1902), p. 335

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Behm, Ernst 1830 births 1884 deaths People from Gotha (town) People from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha German geographers German statisticians