Peter Clausen (approximately 1801–1872), often misspelt as Peter Claussen, and also known as Pedro Claudio Clausen and Pedro Dinamarquez Clausen, was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

natural history collector born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, who was known for his work between 1834 and 1843. His birth and death dates are unclear, sometimes recorded as 1804-1855 or as 1801–1872. His botanical collections are present in many European herbaria. He sold animal fossils to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and the Jardin des Plantes in France. He later had an article about the geology of Minas Gerais published through the L'Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. He worked with

Jules Paul Benjamin Delessert Jules Paul Benjamin Delessert (14 February 1773 – 1 March 1847) was a French banker and naturalist. He was an honorary member of the Académie des Sciences and many species were named from his natural history collections. Biography He was bor ...

Life

On account of fraud he emigrated to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and with Don Pedro I's army arrived in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. He at first enlisted as a common soldier and later lived as a peddler. During

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

's Cisplatine War with Brazil between 1825 and 1828, he served as a spy. Later he lived as a merchant in the province of Cachoeira do Campo, in the State of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, becoming the owner of a farm in the northerly neighborhood of

Curvelo Curvelo is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is located in the geodesic centre of Minas Gerais, 170 km north of the capital, Belo Horizonte, and connected to the capital by highways MG 135 and BR 040. Its estimated popu ...

, some days' journey north of Lagoa Santa. On his great journey through the Brazilian countryside in 1833–35, he chanced to meet the Danish naturalist Peter Wilhelm Lund accompanied by the German

botanist 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 wo ...

Ludwig Riedel Ludwig Riedel (2 March 1790, Berlin, Germany – 6 August 1861, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was a German botanist. Riedel described relatively few species himself, but collected hundreds of new species, many named after him. The genus '' Riedelia'' (E ...

in October 1834. There he used the name "Pedro Claudio Dinamarquez", and Lund stayed on Clausen farm 'Porteirinha' for about a week. This meeting proved a turning point in both Lund's and Clausen's lives. On the farm were caves in the limestone hills, and these were exploited by the local people for fertilizer. Later visits to these caves by Lund uncovered numerous fossil remains. The study of these linked Lund forever to inland Brazil. For commercial reasons Clausen's acquaintance with Lund turned him into a natural history collector, both of plants and fossil animals. In 1843 he accompanied

Francis de Castelnau Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

on his South American expedition. After returning to Europe he began to suffer from mental problems and so was taken to a hospital in

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, London, where he died in 1855.

References

Danish naturalists Botanists active in South America {{Denmark-botanist-stub

Life

See also

References