Carl Ferdinand Appun (24 May 1820, Bunzlau- July 1872, Guyana) was a German naturalist. On the recommendation of Alexander von Humboldt Appun was employed by Frederick William IV of Prussia as a botanist in Venezuela where excepting a one-year break in Germany, he spent ten years exploring the flora. After that he went to British Guayana, where he researched as a botanist on behalf the British government. He also visited parts of Brazil -the Rio Branco and Rio Negro on the Amazon to Tabatinga. During a visit in Germany (1868âÂÂ1871) he published a set of essays in different magazines . His best known work Unter den Tropen (Under the Tropics) was at that time extremely popular. In 1871 he undertook a second exploration of Guyana, where he had an accident which led to his death. His last writings were essays about . Appun described many new plant species and is also known as an entomologist.
Works
- ÃÂber die Behandlung von Sämerein und Pflanzen des tropischen Süd-Amerika, besonders VenezuelaâÂÂs. Bunzlau 1858
- Unter den Tropen: Wanderungen durch Venezuela, am Orinoco, durch Britisch Guyana und am Amazonenstrome in den Jahren 1849-1868. Jena: Costenoble, 1871.
- Venezuela. Jena: Costenoble, 1871. Unter den Tropen; 1.
- Britisch Guyana. Jena: Costenoble, 1871. Unter den Tropen; 2.
- with Eduard Raimund Baierlein Bei den Indianern. Berlin; Leipzig: Hillger, 1915. Deutsche Jugendbücherei; Nr 104
Collections
The Museum für Naturkunde contains Diptera collected by Appun in Colombia.
References
- Papavero, N. (1973): Essays on the history of Neotropical dipterology, with special reference to collectors (1750-1905). São Paulo: Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo.
- Herbert Scurla (1968): Im Lande der Kariben. Reisen deutscher Forscher des 19. Jahrhunderts in Guayana. Alexander von Humboldt. Robert Schomburgk. Richard Schomburgk. Carl Ferdinand Appun. Berlin: Verlag der Nation, 1964; 3. Auflage.
- Julius Loewenberg (1875): Appun, Karl Ferdinand, in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB), Band 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig.
External links