Ernst Friedrich August Boll (21 September 1817,

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (lit. ''New Brandenburg'', ) is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban centre of the Mecklenburg Lakeland. The city is famous for its ...

– 20 January 1868) was a German naturalist and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

. He was a brother to

Franz Boll (1805–1875), with whom he worked on numerous projects. Ernst Boll is remembered for his extensive research involving the natural history of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

. He studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and sciences in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

and

Berlin 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 ...

, and following graduation in 1842, became a private tutor in the town of Friedland. In 1846 he was a founding member of ''Vereins der Freunde der Naturgeschichte Mecklenburg'' (Association of Friends of Natural History of Mecklenburg), and he was editor of the group's archives from 1847 until his death in 1868. In this position he penned many scientific articles on

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

petrography Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. The class ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

and

botany 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 w ...

. One of his more important writings was a treatise concerning history of the Mecklenburg region titled ''Die Geschichte Mecklenburgs, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Culturgeschichte''. Boll was politically active and a supporter of liberal issues. He was a prominent member of the 1848 ''Neubrandenburger Reformbewegung'' (Neubrandenburg Reform Movement), and through this confederation became a good friend to

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

Fritz Reuter Fritz Reuter (7 November 1810 – 12 July 1874; born as ''Heinrich Ludwig Christian Friedrich Reuter'') was a novelist from Northern Germany who was a prominent contributor to Low German literature. Early life Fritz Reuter was born at Stavenha ...

(1810–1874). After his death in 1868, his large collection of rocks and fossils were donated to the Neubrandenburg Museum, and are now part of the Natural History Collection of

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

Müritzeum The Müritzeum is a visitor centre and nature discovery centre for the Müritz National Park, located on Lake Müritz, near the town of Waren in the north German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The concept of the visitor centre is to have an ...

, near the city of Waren. Since 1992 the state of

has issued the ''Ernst-Boll-Umweltpreis'' (Ernst Boll Environment Prize).

Selected publications

* ''Geognosie der deutschen Ostseeländer zwischen Eider und Oder'' (Geognosy of the German Baltic countries between the

Eider Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quil ...

and Oder Rivers), 1846 * ''Abriß der physischen Geographie'' (Summary of physical geography), 1850 * ''Die Insel Rügen'' (The Island of

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

), 1858 * ''Flora von Mecklenburg'' (Flora of Mecklenburg), 1860 * ''Abriß der Mecklenburg'' (Summary of Mecklenburg), 1861 * ''Die Geschichte Mecklenburgs, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Culturgeschichte'' (The History of Mecklenburg, with particular attention to cultural history) 1855–1856, two volumes.

References

* Boll, F. C. 1869 oll, E. F. A.'' Arch. Ver. Freunde Naturgesch. Mecklenb''. 27:1–34 * Duty, I. 1997: "Zur Geschichte der Entomologie in Mecklenburg (Mecklenburg-Schwerin und Mecklenburg-Strelitz)". in ''Arch. Freunde Naturgesch. Mecklenb''. 36:111–140 * Friese, G. 1959: "Die Erforschung der mecklenburgischen Schmetterlings-Fauna. (Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Entomologie in Deutschland)". In ''Arch. Freunde Naturgesch. Mecklenb''. 5:226–264, 234–235 {{DEFAULTSORT:Boll, Ernst 1817 births 1868 deaths People from Neubrandenburg German naturalists 19th-century German geologists People from Mecklenburg-Strelitz 19th-century German historians 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers