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Friedrich Heinrich, Freiherr von Kittlitz (16 February 1799 – 10 April 1874) was a Prussian artist, naval officer, explorer and naturalist. He was a descendant of a family of old Prussian nobility ("Freiherr" meaning "independent lord" - ranking with a baron). He collected specimens and made illustrations on major expeditions and wrote a few books on his travels. Several species were described on the basis of specimens collected by him and a few are named after him including Kittlitz's plover.
Kittlitz was born in Breslau to Prussian Captain Friedrich (1769-1825) and Henriette Ehrenfried von Diebitsch (1771-1835). He went to grammar school in Oels and joined his father's battalion as a volunteer in 1813. He became a second lieutenant in the 16th Silesian Infantry Regiment and saw action at Glogau. He went to Paris in 1815 and was garrisoned in Mainz when the Landwehr regiments were dissolved. It was here that he became interested in nature after meeting
Valparaiso_Kittlitz.jpg, Life in Valparaiso, a sketch by Kittlitz
Plate_2_Kittlitz.jpg, Steller's sea eagle by Kittlitz
1. Heft
*'' 24 Vegetationsansichten von den Küstenländern und Inseln des Stillen Ozeans'', Wiesbaden 1845–1852 *''Vegetationsansichten aus den westlichen Sudeten'', Frankfurt 1854 *''Naturszenen aus Kamtschatka'' *''Bilder vom Stillen Ozean'' *''Denkwürdigkeiten einer Reise nach dem russischen Amerika, nach Mikronesien und durch Kamtschatka'', Gotha 1858
Band 1Band 2
*''Psychologische Grundlage für eine neue Philosophie der Kunst'', Berlin 1863 *''Schlußfolgerungen von der Seele des Menschen auf die Weltseele'', Mainz 1873 *''Ornithologisches Tagebuch. Handschrift mit Aquarellmalereien. 4 Bände'' (1816-1823).Wissenschaftliche Stadtbibliothek Mainz, Sammlung Moyat, Sign.: Moyat 658
Biography in German with portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kittlitz, Heinrich Von 1799 births 1874 deaths German ornithologists 19th-century German zoologists 19th-century German botanists Barons of Germany
Life and work
Kittlitz was born in Breslau to Prussian Captain Friedrich (1769-1825) and Henriette Ehrenfried von Diebitsch (1771-1835). He went to grammar school in Oels and joined his father's battalion as a volunteer in 1813. He became a second lieutenant in the 16th Silesian Infantry Regiment and saw action at Glogau. He went to Paris in 1815 and was garrisoned in Mainz when the Landwehr regiments were dissolved. It was here that he became interested in nature after meeting Eduard Rüppell
Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (20 November 1794 – 10 December 1884) was a German Natural history, naturalist and List of explorers, explorer. Rüppell is occasionally transliterated to "Rueppell" for the English alphabet, due to german ort ...
. Through the influence of his maternal uncle Hans Karl von Diebitsch, field marshal in Russia, that he joined the Russian corvette ''Senjawin'' on a circumnavigational expedition between 1826 and 1829 under the leadership of Captain Fyodor Petrovich Litke (1797-1882). He travelled along with Prince Karl of Prussia to St. Petersburg and the expedition set sail on September 1. He made large collections on this expedition for the museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg with 754 specimens of 314 bird species, including species that subsequently became extinct. Among them are the Micronesian species, Kosrae crake
The Kosrae crake or Kusaie Island crake (''Zapornia monasa''), sometimes also stated as Kittlitz's rail, is an extinct bird from the family Rallidae. It occurred on the island of Kosrae and perhaps on Pohnpei, Ponape in the south-western Pacific ...
(''Porzana monasa'') and Kosrae starling
The Kosrae starling, also known as Kosrae Island starling, and formerly as Kusaie Mountain starling, (''Aplonis corvina'') is an extinct bird from the family of starlings (Sturnidae). It was endemic to the montane forests on the island of Kosrae ...
(''Aplonis corvina'') which are known only from his specimens. He published ''Twenty-four Views of the Vegetation of the Coasts and Islands of the Pacific'' (1844).
Kittlitz travelled to North Africa in 1831 with his friend Eduard Rüppell
Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (20 November 1794 – 10 December 1884) was a German Natural history, naturalist and List of explorers, explorer. Rüppell is occasionally transliterated to "Rueppell" for the English alphabet, due to german ort ...
, but had to return to Germany due to poor health. It was during his time in Egypt whilst waiting for a boat that he collected specimens of the bird which became known as Kittlitz's plover.
Kittlitz's murrelet
Kittlitz's murrelet (''Brachyramphus brevirostris'') is a small alcid found in the waters off Alaska and Eastern Siberia. This near threatened species is, like the closely related marbled murrelet, unusual for seabirds in not being colonial, nes ...
, Kittlitz's rail, Kittlitz's thrush and Kittlitz's plover are all named for him.
Works
*''Kupfertafeln zur Naturgeschichte der Vögel'', Frankfurt 18321. Heft
*'' 24 Vegetationsansichten von den Küstenländern und Inseln des Stillen Ozeans'', Wiesbaden 1845–1852 *''Vegetationsansichten aus den westlichen Sudeten'', Frankfurt 1854 *''Naturszenen aus Kamtschatka'' *''Bilder vom Stillen Ozean'' *''Denkwürdigkeiten einer Reise nach dem russischen Amerika, nach Mikronesien und durch Kamtschatka'', Gotha 1858
Band 1
*''Psychologische Grundlage für eine neue Philosophie der Kunst'', Berlin 1863 *''Schlußfolgerungen von der Seele des Menschen auf die Weltseele'', Mainz 1873 *''Ornithologisches Tagebuch. Handschrift mit Aquarellmalereien. 4 Bände'' (1816-1823).Wissenschaftliche Stadtbibliothek Mainz, Sammlung Moyat, Sign.: Moyat 658
See also
* European and American voyages of scientific explorationReferences
External links
Biography in German with portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kittlitz, Heinrich Von 1799 births 1874 deaths German ornithologists 19th-century German zoologists 19th-century German botanists Barons of Germany