Physician and biologist from Br⟼nn, Austria (now Brno, Czechoslovakia), who studied medicine at the University of Vienna. He joined the Austrian navy as a physician (1856-1878) during which time he made several voyages and created a substantial collection of plants. Between 1857 and 1858 he sailed on the corvette Carolina to Madeira, Brazil, the Cape, Benguela and Loanda (Angola), Ascension Island and the Cape Verde Islands, calling at South Africa from 11 December 1857 to 12 January 1858. He joined the transatlantic expedition of the war steamer Elisabeth to Brazil (1859-1860) with emperor Maximilian of Mexico and was in charge of botanical collections, with the assistance of the the gardner Franz Mal⟽.

Wawra travelled with emperor Maximilian again in 1864 as physician on the frigate Novara during a visit to Mexico, with botanical collections made mainly by A. Jelinek and H.W. Reichardt. He sailed around the world on the frigate Donau (1868-1871) visiting the Canary Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Hawaii, Peru and Chile, and later joined the circumnavigation (1872-1873) of Prince Philipp and Prince August von Sachsen-Coburg-Kohary.

After leaving the navy in 1878 he was a private tutor but joined the voyage (1879) of Prince Ferdinand and Prince August von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha to Brazil. He was awarded the honorary title of Ritter (Baron) von Fernsee in 1873. Original botanical collections were mainly deposited at B, but were largely destroyed (1943) during the Second World War. The genus Fernseea Baker in the Bromeliaceae was named in his honour and he is commemorated in many names of species of phanerogams and pteridophytes, including Labordia wawrana Sherff, Pleurothallis wawraeana Barb. Rodr. and Xyris wawrae Heimerl.