Harald Georg Gideon Freiherr von Loudon (30 April 1876–1 January 1959) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

ornithologist.

Life and work

Baron Harald von Loudon was born in the

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

. He belonged to the Baltic Noble family and studied

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 ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

at the Zoological Museum of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...

. He began his ornithological research in the 1890s, making observations near his home in the vicinity of

Valmiera Valmiera (; german: link=no, Wolmar; pl, Wolmar see other names) is the largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020 – 24 879. It is a state cit ...

and

Cēsis Cēsis (), (german: Wenden, liv, Venden, et, Võnnu, pl, Kieś) is a town in Latvia located in the northern part of the Central Vidzeme Upland. Cēsis is on the Gauja River valley, and is built on a series of ridges above the river over ...

in present-day Latvia. At this time he started his personal collection of

bird egg Bird eggs are laid by the females and range in quantity from one (as in condors) to up to seventeen (the grey partridge). Clutch size may vary latitudinally within a species. Some birds lay eggs even when the eggs have not been fertilized; it ...

s. At least from 1894, this collection grew in both size and scope, encompassing not only eggs but also whole birds, skeletons and skulls. His first publication appeared in 1895 in the journal of the Riga Association of Natural Scientists ''(Der Naturforscherverein zu Riga)'', predecessor of the Natural History Museum of Latvia. He kept making systematic research of the bird-life of Latvia until at least 1917. In the spring of 1896, he went on a scientific journey to the southern part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, during which he made the acquaintance of

Gustav Radde Gustav Ferdinand Richard Radde (27 November 1831 – 2 March 1903) was a German naturalist and Siberian explorer. Radde's warbler and several other species are named after him. Biography Radde was born in Danzig, the son of a schoolmaster. He ...

and

Nikolai Zarudny Nikolai Alekseyvich Zarudny (russian: Николай Алексеевич Зарудный; rus, Николай Алексеевич Зарудный, r=Nikolay Alekseevich Zarudny. His name has been transliterated a number of other ways; especial ...

. The latter became a friend of von Loudon and they kept regular contact. von Loudon came to make an additional five such ornithological expeditions, to the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

, the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. In 1904, he hosted

Henry Eeles Dresser Henry Eeles Dresser (9 May 183828 November 1915) was an English businessman and ornithologist. Background and early life Henry Dresser was born in Thirsk, Yorkshire, where his father was the manager of the bank set up by his grandfather. Dres ...

at his estate in Latvia, and one year later he himself travelled to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to participate in an international conference on ornithology,; he was one of only five Russian citizens to participate. Von Loudon accumulated a vast collection of birds, bird eggs and other scientific material, as well as a vast ornithological library. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, von Loudon was forced to flee the country and settled in Germany. Here he gradually moved away from ornithology in favor of politics, participating in the activities of the Society of Baltic Germans. In 1922 his property including manor with lands (513 hectares) was confiscated by Latvian state for his help to the German troops during the war. His collection suffered from mistreatment during World War I, but parts of it were rescued and eventually ended up in the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

; the main part of the collection was however evacuated to present-day

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

in 1939 and probably destroyed there during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The ornithological library ended up in the

National Library of Latvia The National Library of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka) is a national cultural institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture of Latvia. Its current main building is known as the Castle of Light ( lv, Gaismas pils ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loudon, Harald 1876 births 1959 deaths Baltic-German people German ornithologists Baltic nobility