Langsdorff, Georg Heinrich von b.April 4, l774;Wollstein, Hesse d.June 29, 1852; Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden
German globetrotter and Russian consul general to Brazil who encouraged German immigration to Brazil. Langsdorff studied medicine and natural sciences at the University of Gottingen, where he received his doctoral degree in medicine in 1797.
In the following years, Langsdorff worked first as a personal physician for Prince Christian von Waldeck in Lisbon and later participated in the first Russian world circumnavigation under the direction of Adam Johann von Krusenstern (1803—1807). He recounted his experiences and observations in the two-volume Bemerkungen auf einer Reise um die Welt in den Jahren 1803 bis 1807 (Remarks and Observations on a Voyage around the World from 1803 to 1807).In 1813 Tsar Alexander I appointed him consul general to Brazil, where he bought a farm (Fazenda “Mandioca”) north of Rio. On this farm, Langsdorff welcomed many German explorers. Among them were Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege, Maximilian Prinz zu Wied- Neuwied, Johann Baptist Spix, Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, and Johann Natterer. From 1820 to 1822 Langsdorff visited Europe and encouraged German emigration to Brazil. In his text Be- merkungen uber Brasilien. Mit gewis- senhafter Belehrung fur auswandernde Deutsche (Remarks on Brazil: With Careful Advice for Germans Who Are Considering Emigration, 1821), Langsdorff pointed to the advantages of Brazil (its climate and the availability of large unsettled lands, as well as the existence of slavery) over North America. Brazil was described as a heaven on earth in which everyone could become rich. The Russian ruler allowed him to embark on a scientific expedition in 1826—1827. Langsdorff invited several Europeans, among them the painter Johann Moritz Rugendas, the botanist Ludwig Riedel, and the astronomer Nestor G. Rubzov, to participate in this endeavor. His team explored the state of Rio de Janeiro and went on an
eight-month-long trip through Minas Gerais. Langsdorff was the first European to travel by boat to Mato Grosso’s capital, Cuiaba, where he arrived on September 27, 1827.
The tropical climate damaged Langsdorff’s health and caused him to lose his memory. In 1829 he returned to Germany where he settled down in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1831. Because his mental state prevented him from writing about his expedition, his documents were shelved in Russian archives and remained unknown to the public for almost 100 years. It was only in 1948 that the first written account of Langsdorff’s expedition was published in Russian. A translation into Portuguese followed in 1967 and into German in 1979. In 1974 a conference dedicated to Langsdorff’s 200th birthday in Leningrad sparked new interest in his Brazilian expedition and led to the publication of several scholarly treatments.Heinz Peter Brogiato
See also Brazil; Martius, Carl Friedrich Philipp von; Natterer, Johann Baptist; Wied-Neuwied, Maximilian Alexander Philipp Prinz zu
References and Further Reading
Barman, Roderick J. “The Forgotten Journey.
Georg Heinrich Langsdorff and the Russian Imperial Scientific Expedition to Brazil, 1821—1829.” Terrae Incognitae. The Journal of the History of Discoveries vol. III (1971): 67-96.
Becher, Hans. “Georg Heinrich Freiherr von Langsdorff. Ein Pionier der Brasilienforschung im zweiten Jahrzehnt des 19. Jahrhunderts.” Staden-Jahrbuch vol. 23-24 (1975/76): 27-40.
------. Georg Heinrich Freiherr von Langsdorff in Brasilien. Forschungen eines deutschen Gelehrten im 19. Jahrhundert. Berlin: Reimer, 1987.
Komissarow, Boris N. “Die brasilianischen Tagebucher G. H. v. Langsdorffs als historisch-ethnographische Quelle.” Jahrbuch des Museums fur V∂lkerkunde zu Leipzig vol. 31 (1977): 133-176.