GEOGRAPHER

Alexander von Humboldt

1769 - 1859

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Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher, and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835). Humboldt's quantitative work on botanical geography laid the foundation for the field of biogeography, while his advocacy of long-term systematic geophysical measurement pioneered modern geomagnetic and meteorological monitoring. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Alexander von Humboldt has received more than 3,082,297 page views. His biography is available in 105 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 97 in 2019). Alexander von Humboldt is the 3rd most popular geographer, the 43rd most popular biography from Germany (down from 42nd in 2019) and the most popular German Geographer.

Alexander von Humboldt is most famous for his contributions to the sciences of geography, geology, and botany.

Memorability Metrics

  • 3.1M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 83.06

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 105

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 11.32

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.90

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among GEOGRAPHERS

Among geographers, Alexander von Humboldt ranks 3 out of 86. Before him are Eratosthenes, and Strabo. After him are Gerardus Mercator, Muhammad al-Idrisi, Piri Reis, Pausanias, Carl Ritter, Abraham Ortelius, Ferdinand von Richthofen, Martin Waldseemüller, and Wladimir Köppen.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1769, Alexander von Humboldt ranks 2. Before him is Napoleon. After him are Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Michel Ney, Georges Cuvier, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Jean Lannes, Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ivan Krylov, André-Jacques Garnerin, and Thomas Lawrence. Among people deceased in 1859, Alexander von Humboldt ranks 1. After him are Klemens von Metternich, Alexis de Tocqueville, Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, Oscar I of Sweden, Carl Ritter, John Vianney, Wilhelm Grimm, Josip Jelačić, Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, Washington Irving, and Bettina von Arnim.

Others Born in 1769

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Others Deceased in 1859

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In Germany

Among people born in Germany, Alexander von Humboldt ranks 43 out of 7,253. Before him are Thomas Mann (1875), Erwin Rommel (1891), Robert Koch (1843), Hermann Göring (1893), Bernhard Riemann (1826), and Werner Heisenberg (1901). After him are Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912), Pope Benedict XVI (1927), Karl Benz (1844), Marlene Dietrich (1901), Adolf Eichmann (1906), and Felix Mendelssohn (1809).

Others born in Germany

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Among GEOGRAPHERS In Germany

Among geographers born in Germany, Alexander von Humboldt ranks 1. After him are Carl Ritter (1779), Martin Waldseemüller (1470), Sebastian Münster (1488), Albrecht Penck (1858), Alfred Hettner (1859), Johann Georg Gmelin (1709), Hans Meyer (1858), August Heinrich Petermann (1822), Peter Schenk the Elder (1660), Anton Friedrich Büsching (1724), and Adolf Stieler (1775).

German born Geographers

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