Oskar Alexander Richard Büttner (28 September 1858 – 1927) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

botanist and

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

who was involved in the exploration of the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It c ...

Life

Büttner was born in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...

on 28 September 1858. He studied in Berlin, where he received his doctorate in 1883 with his dissertation ''Flora advena marchica''. He was a scientific participant in the German Congo Expedition of the African Society in Germany (1884–1886), which, under the direction of Eduard Schulze, was to serve the "exploration of the southern Congo Basin". It penetrated into areas unexplored from a European point of view. In 1890 he wrote ''Reisen im Kongolande'' about his travels. In 1890–1891 he was in charge of a research station in Bismarckburg,

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its ...

. The station had been founded in June 1888 by the explorer Ludwig Wolf and named after the German chancellor

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...

. At that time, the station consisted of nine adobe buildings arranged in a rectangle. Büttner had a palisade fence built for fortification. After his return to Berlin Büttner worked as a teacher. There he founded the first chair for African languages in Germany. He died unmarried on September 11, 1927 in Berlin-Karlshorst.

Legacy

Some species were described according to Büttner's evidence, and he himself described ''

Xyris congensis ''Xyris'' is a genus of flowering plants, the yelloweyed grasses, in the yellow-eyed-grass family. The genus counts over 250 species, widespread over much of the world, with the center of distribution in the Guianas. The leaves are mostly di ...

''. '' Aloe buettneri'' and the Togo mouse (''Leimacomys buettneri)'' were named after him. Büttner is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of African lizard, ''

Trachylepis buettneri ''Trachylepis buettneri'' is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to Central Africa and West Africa. Etymology The specific name, ''buettneri'', is in honor of German botanist Oskar Alexander Richard Büt ...

''.

Publications

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References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buttner, Richard 1858 births 1927 deaths 19th-century German botanists German entomologists Explorers of Africa German explorers