Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (also known as Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister) (15 January 1807 – 2 May 1892) was a German Argentine

zoologist 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 d ...

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as ara ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

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 ...

, and

coleopterologist Coleopterology (from Coleoptera and Greek , ''-logia'') is the scientific study of beetles, a branch of entomology. Practitioners are termed coleopterists and form groups of amateurs and professionals for business and pleasure. Among these is T ...

. He served as a professor at the University of Halle, headed the museum there and published the ''Handbuch der Entomologie'' (1832–1855) before moving to Argentina where he worked until his death.

Career

Burmeister was born in

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, N ...

, where his father was a customs officer. He studied medicine at

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rosto ...

(1825–1827) and

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hal ...

(1827–1829), and in 1830 went to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

to qualify himself to be a teacher of natural history. His dissertation was titled ''De insectorum systemate naturali'' and graduated as a doctor of medicine on November 4, 1829 and then received a doctor of philosophy on December 19 in the same year. He then joined for military service in Berlin and Grünberg (Silesia). He was soon after appointed an instructor in the gymnasium at

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. He later became a professor of zoology at the

Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

serving there from 1837 to 1861. During this period he published several major works on insects which also involved the examination of insect collections around Europe and those of wealthy collectors. He married, Marie Elise, the daughter of shipowner and insect collector M.C. Sommer of Altona in 1836. In 1848, during the revolutionary excitement, he was sent by the city of

as deputy to the

national assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

, and subsequently by the town of Leibnitz to the first Prussian chamber. Around 1848 he became a socialist and still later opposed slavery. He traveled to Brazil from 1850 to 1852, partly supported through the efforts of

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister ...

was cut short by a leg injury. He then visited

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

from 1857 to 1860, returning to Germany with zoological collections. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1856. In 1861, he divorced his wife and went to live in Argentina, founding the Institute at the Museo Nacional in Buenos Aires. He married an Argentinian woman and they had two sons, Carlos and Federico. Carlos also became a scientist. Burmeister headed the Academy of Sciences, formed from the scientific faculty of Argentina's National University of Córdoba. He took an interest in paleontology and was keenly interested in protecting fossils in the pampas region and helped the passage of a law. In the field of

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and ...

he described many new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbo ...

and

reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates ( lizards and snakes) and rhynchoceph ...

.The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. Burmeister was said to be harsh and did not have any close circle of friends. While working at the Argentinian museum, he had a fall from a ladder and landed on a glass case and injured himself seriously on 8 February 1892. He resigned from work on 18 April and died on 2 May. A state funeral was held on the 4 May and the president of Argentina,

Carlos Pellegrini Carlos Enrique José Pellegrini Bevans (October 11, 1846 – July 17, 1906) was Vice President of Argentina and became President of Argentina from August 6, 1890 to October 12, 1892, upon Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman's resignation (see R ...

was present. A monument was placed on the bank of the Rio de La Plata in the ''Parque 3 Febrero'' on October 7, 1900 and later moved to the ''Parque Centenario''.

Evolution

Burmeister was a critic of

Darwinism Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations tha ...

, he rejected

common descent Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time. All living beings are in fact descendants of a unique ancestor commonly referred to as the last universal com ...

.Levine, Alex; Novoa, Adriana. (2012). ''Darwinistas!: The Construction of Evolutionary Thought in Nineteenth Century Argentina''. Brill. pp. 100-102. However, he changed his views slightly on common descent in the late 1870s. In 1879 he commented that:

I am wholly convinced that the beings found in the older formations of our globe are the prototypes of contemporary beings, and in this respect, I declare myself a partisan of the hypothesis recently developed in detail, and as a natural law, by Darwin and his followers. But I must confess that their experiments have not provided me with any proof that any fundamental change in type is possible.

Florentino Ameghino described Burmeister as a "Biblical creationist", although this remains unconfirmed.

Bibliography

*182
''De insectorum systemate naturali''
40 pp. Grunert, Halle. 829.??*183
''Handbuch der Entomologie''
Vol. 1, xvi+ 696 + pp. Reimer, Berlin. fter 1832.10.31*

835 __NOTOC__ Year 835 ( DCCCXXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian Calendar. Events By place Europe * Ragnar Lodbrok, a Norse Viking ruler, rises to power. He becomes the scourge of ...

Bericht über die Fortschritte der Entomologie 1834–35. ''Arch. Naturgesch''. 1(2): 7-74. *1837 ''Handbuch der Naturgeschichte''. art 2xii + pp. 369–858. Enslin, Berlin. 837.??*1851 u. 1853''Geologische Bilder zur Geschichte der Erde und ihrer Bewohner'', 2 Volumes.- Verlag von Otto Wigand, Leipzig, 312+326pp *O. Taschenberg "Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister" Leopoldina, 29: 43-46; 62-64; 78-82; 94–97. Halle (1893) *C. Berg "Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister. Bio (with a portrait)" Anales Museum of Natural History in Buenos Aires, 4: 315–357. Buenos Aires, Argentina (1895) * C. Berg "Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister. Bio" Anales de la Sociedad Argentina Science, 41: 97-107. Buenos Aires, Argentina (1896) * Anonymous "Germán Burmeister, 25 † anniversary of his death" Physis, 3 (14): 305–306. Buenos Aires, Argentina (1917) *B. Houssay "The personality of German Burmeister" Physis, 19 (53): 279–283. Buenos Aires, Argentina (1942) * WITNESS Mendilaharzu "Burmeister unpublished" Deutsche Lehrerzeitung für Argentinien: 22–25. Buenos Aires, Argentina (1942) *C. Withaus "Germán Bumeister. Memorias del Museo de Entre Rios." Parana Province of Entre Rios, Argentina (1942) *G. Araoz Alfaro "A wise German in the service of Argentina, German Burmeister" Argentine-German cultural institutions, pp. 1–15. Buenos Aires, Argentina (1943) *R. Ardissone "Homage to Burmeister. Burmeister contribution to geography" Bulletin EAG, (35): 9-10. Buenos Aires, Argentina (1957) *A. Burkart "Burmeister as botanical" Revista de la Universidad Nacional de la Plata, 4: 89–95. La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1958) *M. Buraben "Germán Burmeister, his life, his work" Cultural issues Argentinas, pp. 1–95. Buenos Aires, Argentina (1968) * K. Müller "Hermann Burmeister" Die Natur, 36 (NF, 13): 136–138. Halle (1887) *M. Asua "Official support for the Physics Description de la République Argentine H. Burmeister" Quipu, 6 (3): 339–353. México (1989) * NT Auza "Germán Burmeister and Paleontological Society 1866-1868" Investigations and Trials, 46: 137–155. National History Academy. Buenos Aires, Argentina (1997)

Other works

''Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte der Rankenfüsser (Cirripedia)''''El Campo del Cielo (Territorio del Chaco) : extracto de un informe presentado /por el naturalista viajero Carlos Burmeister''''Beschreibung einiger neuen oder weniger bekannten Schmarotzerkrebse : nebst allgemeinen Betrachtungen über die Gruppe, welcher sie angehören''''Die Labyrinthodonten aus dem bunten Sandstein von Bernburg : zoologisch geschildert''''Die Organisation der Trilobiten aus ihren lebenden Verwandten entwickelt : nebst einer systematischen Uebersicht aller zeither beschriebenen Arten''''The organization of trilobites, deduced from their living affinities : with a systematic review of the species hitherto''
(with Thomas Bell and Edward Forbes)
''Systematische Uebersicht der Thiere Brasiliens : welche während einer Reise durch die Provinzen von Rio de Janeiro und Minas geraës gesammlt oder beobachtet Wurden''
(Vols. 1-3)
''Beiträge zur näheren Kenntniss der Gattung Tarsius''''Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte''''Revision del género Ecpantheria''''Description physique de la République Argentine d'après des observations personelles et étrangères''
(with Emile Daireaux, and E. Maupas) (Vols. 1-5)
''Genera quædam insectorum. Iconibus illustravit et descripsit Hermannus Burmeister ...''''Grundiss der Naturgeschichte : Für Gymnasien und höhere Bürgerschulen''''A Manual of entomology, / tr. from the German of Dr. Herman Burmeister by W. E. Shuckard, with additions by the author, and original notes and plates by the translator''

References

External links

Jens Andermannn-Relics and Selves
*
Gaedike, R.; Groll, E. K. & Taeger, A. 2012: Bibliography of the entomological literature from the beginning until 1863 : online database - version 1.0 - Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burmeister, Hermann 1807 births 1892 deaths Argentine zoologists German taxonomists German entomologists German mammalogists German ornithologists German emigrants to Argentina Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the Prussian House of Lords People from the Province of Pomerania People from Stralsund Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg alumni Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg faculty Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences 19th-century German zoologists