Alexander von Humboldt Biography

Some of our Great Peacemakers do not directly bring about change but rather lay the groundwork for others. More places and things are named after our next figure than anyone who has ever lived. In the early 19th century he was the most famous man in the world after Napoleon, yet outside Germany or beyond certain scientific circles, most people today have never heard of him.

Alexander von Humboldt was born on September 14, 1769, in Berlin into an aristocratic Prussian family. When he was 9 years old, his father died after which Alexander and his older brother, Wilhelm, were raised solely by their mother and privately tutored. Humboldt would go on to study at four different universities with the intent of becoming a scientific explorer. In 1792, he graduated from the Freiburg School of Mines and was appointed to a Prussian government position as mine inspector. He excelled at his work, but continued to pine for the day he could set off on his own scientific expedition. 

When Humboldt was 27, his mother died and a large inheritance opened up new horizons. He left his government position and within two years received permission from King Carlos IV of Spain to undertake a self-financed expedition to South America with French friend, Aimé Bonpland.

The expedition set sail from Spain in June 1799 with 42 state-of-the-art scientific instruments on board. For the next five years, Humboldt and Bonpland trekked 6,000 miles through what is now Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico. Along the way, they acquired a trove of specimens and scientific information, including 60,000 plants, seeds, and items along with detailed botanical, geological, astronomical, meteorological, and oceanographic data. On the expedition, Humboldt also developed the concept of isotherms, discovered the magnetic equator, measured the current of the coast off Peru that now bears his name, and developed our modern understanding of the web of life we now take for granted. He became the first person to describe how humans were changing the climate in a manner that could become catastrophic. 

He became the first person to describe how humans were changing the climate in a manner that could become catastrophic.

In the years after the expedition, Humboldt authored a vast array of publications with a unique capacity to unite art and science, feelings and reason. He wrote on topics as varied as botany, mineralogy, astronomy, zoology, anthropology, economics and politics. He decried slavery and the treatment of indigenous populations by colonial powers.

Alexander von Humboldt by Reinhold Begas, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

photo credit: Dr. Avishai Teicher

When Humboldt was 61, he was commissioned by Imperial Russia for another scientific expedition that covered 9,600 miles, in about six months, but far less has been published about this undertaking than his South American travels. 

A few years later, Humboldt began what he called the “opus of my life.” At the age of 65 he began to write Cosmos: A Sketch of a Physical Description of the World, in which Humboldt ambitiously endeavored to explain the world we live in and the heavens above. He holistically knit together all the physical sciences with characteristically artful prose and captivating illustrations. In Cosmos, Humboldt made the greatest case yet that nature is one unified whole, laying the foundation for future environmental protection movements. The first of five volumes was published when he was 76, the fourth when he was 89, and the fifth posthumously.

Throughout his life Humboldt shared his discoveries freely and was a powerful advocate for the free flow of information, even depleting his vast personal fortune to disseminate his knowledge. He mentored and financially assisted other scientists and was a major influence on writers, artists, scientists, and other peacemakers in this collection. It was Humboldt’s South American expedition that inspired Charles Darwin’s extraordinary five-year, round-the-world voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. 

Humboldt died on May 6, 1859. In Berlin, 80,000 mourners paid their respects during a massive rainstorm as Humboldt’s funeral cortege made its way to Berlin Cathedral. In countries around the world, people grieved the passing of the man the Prussian king called “the greatest man since the deluge.”