Karl Heinrich Mertens (Russian: Андрей Карлович Мертенс, 17 May 1796 – 18 September 1830

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of ...

), was a German botanist and naturalist, and son of the botanist Franz Carl Mertens. Mertens was aboard the Russian vessel ''Senyavin'' under Captain Lieutenant Fedor Petrovich Litke with orders to explore the coasts of

Russian America Russian America (russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but a ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. This turned out to be one of the most productive voyages of discovery in the nineteenth century. Mertens, ornithologist Baron von Kittlitz, and mineralogist

Alexander Postels Alexander Filippovich Postels (russian: Александр Филиппович Постельс; 24 August 1801 Dorpat – 28 June 1871 Vyborg), was a Baltic German of Russian citizenship naturalist, mineralogist and artist. Postels studied at ...

collected and described over 1 000 new species of animal life, and some 2 500 specimens of plants, algae, and rocks. Shortly after this voyage, Litke and the ''Senyavin'' set out on another scientific expedition to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, the chief scientist being Mertens who died two weeks after the expedition's return to Kronstadt. Cape Mertens (64°32’N, 172°25’W) east of the Chukotka Peninsula at the exit from the Senyavin Straits is named in his honour, as is the ctenophore genus ''Mertensia'' created by

Lesson A lesson or class is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students (also called pupils or learners in some circumstances) being taught by a teacher or instructor. A lesson may be either one ...

in 1830 and the family

Mertensiidae Mertensiidae is a family of ctenophores belonging to the order Cydippida. Genera: * '' Callianira'' Péron & Lesueur, 1808 * '' Charistephane'' Chun, 1879 * '' Gastrodes'' Korotneff, 1888 * ''Mertensia ''Mertensia'' is a genus of flowering p ...

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...

in 1860, as well as many specific names. The plant genus ''

Mertensia ''Mertensia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. They are perennial herbaceous plants with blue or sometimes white flowers that open from pink-tinged buds. Such a change in flower color is common in Boraginaceae and is ca ...

'' is in honour of his father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mertens, Karl Heinrich 1796 births 1830 deaths German naturalists German marine biologists