The Most Famous

BIOLOGISTS from Latvia

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This page contains a list of the greatest Latvian Biologists. The pantheon dataset contains 1,097 Biologists, 5 of which were born in Latvia. This makes Latvia the birth place of the 23rd most number of Biologists behind Romania, and Australia.

Top 6

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Latvian Biologists of all time. This list of famous Latvian Biologists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Karl Eichwald

1. Karl Eichwald (1795 - 1876)

With an HPI of 53.12, Karl Eichwald is the most famous Latvian Biologist.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages on wikipedia.

Karl Eduard von Eichwald known as Karl Eichwald (Russian: Эдуард Иванович Эйхвальд, Eduard Ivanovich Eykhvald; 4 July 1795, in Mitau, Courland Governorate – 10 November 1876, in Saint Petersburg) was a Baltic German geologist, physician, and naturalist, who lived his whole life in the Russian Empire.

Photo of Alexander Kovalevsky

2. Alexander Kovalevsky (1840 - 1901)

With an HPI of 51.97, Alexander Kovalevsky is the 2nd most famous Latvian Biologist.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Alexander Onufrievich Kovalevsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Ону́фриевич Ковале́вский; 7 November 1840 – 1901) was a Russian embryologist, who studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg and became professor at the University of St Petersburg. He was the brother of the paleontologist Vladimir Kovalevsky, and the brother-in-law of the mathematician Sofya Kovalevskaya.

Photo of Heinz Christian Pander

3. Heinz Christian Pander (b. 1794)

With an HPI of 51.80, Heinz Christian Pander is the 3rd most famous Latvian Biologist.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Heinz Christian Pander, also Christian Heinrich Pander (Russian: Христиан Иванович Пандер; 24 July [O.S. 13] 1794 – 22 September [O.S. 10] 1865) was a Russian biologist and embryologist of Baltic German origin.

Photo of Johann Gerhard König

4. Johann Gerhard König (1728 - 1785)

With an HPI of 50.65, Johann Gerhard König is the 4th most famous Latvian Biologist.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Johann Gerhard König (29 November 1728 – 26 June 1785) was a Baltic German botanist and physician who served in the Tranquebar Mission, India before joining service under the Nawab of Arcot, and then the English East India Company. He collected natural history specimens including plants, particularly those of medical interest, from the region and several species are named after him including the curry tree (Murraya koenigii).

Photo of Georg August Schweinfurth

5. Georg August Schweinfurth (1836 - 1925)

With an HPI of 50.29, Georg August Schweinfurth is the 5th most famous Latvian Biologist.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Georg August Schweinfurth (29 December 1836 – 19 September 1925) was a Baltic German botanist and ethnologist who explored East Central Africa.

Photo of Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter

6. Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter (1809 - 1889)

With an HPI of 49.65, Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter is the 6th most famous Latvian Biologist.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter (20 February 1809, in Jelgava – 24 January 1889, in St. Petersburg), was a Baltic German botanist, specialising in the flora of the Caucasus and central Asia. He was the son of Ernst Christian Johann von Trautvetter (1780-1859), Professor of Philosophy. He studied medicine and natural sciences at the University of Dorpat. From 1829 to 1831, he conducted botanical field trips throughout Livonia, returning to Jelgava in 1831 as a private instructor. In 1833, he began work as an assistant at the botanical garden in Dorpat, two years later, performing similar duties at the botanical garden in St. Petersburg. In 1838 he relocated to Kiev as a professor of botany and director of the botanical garden. During his many years in Kiev, he served as university rector from 1847 to 1859. Later in his career, he returned to the botanical garden in St. Petersburg as an administrator and director. Here, he was tasked with publishing an account of the garden's history. He is honoured in the name of the maple, Acer trautvetteri (Trautvetter's Maple), native to the Caucasus, and the genus Trautvetteria.

People

Pantheon has 6 people classified as Latvian biologists born between 1728 and 1840. Of these 6, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased Latvian biologists include Karl Eichwald, Alexander Kovalevsky, and Heinz Christian Pander. As of April 2024, 1 new Latvian biologists have been added to Pantheon including Heinz Christian Pander.

Deceased Latvian Biologists

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Newly Added Latvian Biologists (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Biologists were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 5 most globally memorable Biologists since 1700.