Johann Anton Güldenstädt (26 April 1745 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

– 23 March 1781 in

St. 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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

) 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 ...

naturalist and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

in Russian service. Güldenstädt lost both his parents early, and from 1763 onwards studied

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

botany 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 w ...

and natural history in

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 constitue ...

. At the age of 22, he obtained his doctorate in

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

at the University of Frankfurt in 1767. In the following year, he joined the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences' expedition sent by

Catherine II of Russia , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

to explore the Russian empire's southern frontier. Güldenstädt travelled through

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and the

Astrakhan Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...

region, as well as the northern

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

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, both of which were almost entirely beyond the borders of the Russian empire. In March 1775 he returned to

St 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 ...

. The results of the expedition and Güldenstädt's edited expedition journal were published after his death by

Peter Simon Pallas Peter Simon Pallas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussian zoologist and botanist who worked in Russia between 1767 and 1810. Life and work Peter Simon Pallas was born in Berlin, the son ...

in ''Reisen durch Russland und im Caucasischen Gebürge'' (Travels in Russia and the Mountains of the Caucasus) (1787–1791). The expedition contributed greatly to the fields of

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

, and particularly

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

. Güldenstädt took detailed notes on the languages of the region. After the expedition, which definitively established Güldenstädt's reputation at the Academy, he continued to work as a naturalist. Güldenstädt's expedition was the first systematic study of the Caucasus. As was typical of contemporary expeditions organized in the spirit of the Enlightenment (including the later American

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

), it was tasked with the observation and description of virtually every aspect of the region under study. This included both its "natural" attributes —

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

, geography, and

— and its peoples, economy, and government. In this sense it was both a scientific expedition and a mission of reconnaissance to learn more about a region that was important in the simultaneous Russian war with the Ottomans, of which the Caucasus was a theater, with the Georgians acting as Russian allies. Immediately following the expedition, Russian interest in the region, particularly Georgia, grew markedly, culminating in the

Treaty of Georgievsk The Treaty of Georgievsk (russian: Георгиевский трактат, Georgievskiy traktat; ka, გეორგიევსკის ტრაქტატი, tr) was a bilateral treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and the east Ge ...

, which made East Georgia a Russian protectorate. In 1781, he died from an outbreak of fever in St. Petersburg.

Legacy

Güldenstädt first described the

jungle cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat, swamp cat and jungle lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to the Middle East, the Caucasus, South and Southeast Asia and southern China. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, littora ...

in 1776 in his article ''Chaus – Animal feli adfine descriptum''.Güldenstädt, J.A. (1776) ''Chaus – Animal feli adfine descriptum''. Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, Vol 20, St. Petersburg. Pp. 483
He is commemorated in the names of: *

Güldenstädt's redstart Güldenstädt's redstart (''Phoenicurus erythrogastrus'') also sometimes called the white-winged redstart, is a species of bird in the genus ''Phoenicurus'', family Muscicapidae. It is found in the high mountains of the southwestern and central P ...

Publications

* ''Chaus – Animal feli adfine descriptum''. Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae Volume 20, St. Petersburg 1776. Pp. 483 * ''Reisen durch Rußland und im Caucasischen Gebürge.'' Russisch-Kayserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften (Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences). St. Petersburg
Volume 1, 1787Volume 2, 1791

Путешествие по Кавказу в 1770–1773 гг
(''Puteshestvie po Kavkazu v 1770-1773 gg''). Translated by T. K. Shafranovskaia. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie, 2002.

References

* Gnucheva, V. F. et al. 1940. ''Materialy dlia istorii ekspeditsii Akademii nauk v XVIII i XIX vekakh: khronologicheskie obzory i opisanie arkhivnykh materialov.'' Moscow: Izdatelstvo Akademii nauk SSSR. * Kopelevich, Iudif’ Khaimovna 1997. ''Iogann Anton Gil’denshtedt, 1745-1781''. Moscow: Nauka. * Kosven, Mark Osipovich 1955. “Materialy po istorii etnografii Kavkaza v russkoi nauke”. Kavkazskii etnograficheskii sbornik. Vols. I, III. Ed. V. K. Gardanov. Moscow: Izdatelstvo Akademii nauk SSSR. I, Pp. 272–290. II, Pp. 267–281 * Lavrov, L. I. 1976. “K 250-letiiu akademicheskogo kavkazovedeniia v Rossii.” Kavkazskii etnograficheskii sbornik. Vol. VI. Ed. V. K. Gardanov. Moscow: Izdatelstvo Akademii nauk SSSR. Pp. 3–10 {{DEFAULTSORT:Guldenstadt, Johann Anton 1745 births 1781 deaths 18th-century people from the Russian Empire 18th-century Latvian people Russian ornithologists German ornithologists 18th-century German zoologists Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Baltic-German people Russian people of German descent Russian people of Latvian descent Scientists from Riga Biologists from the Russian Empire Explorers of the Caucasus Kurdologists

Legacy

Publications

See also

References