Biography

German natural scientist specialising in botany, along with his brother Bernhard Eunom and son Federico the Philippi family emigrated to Chile where they were amongst the first to explore the length and breadth of the country. R.A. Philippi, known in Latin America as Rodolfo Amando, discovered a huge number of plant species, directed the National Museum and created the Botanic Gardens in Santiago. The brothers were both born in Charlottenburg, near Berlin and taught to read and write at home by their mother, before moving in 1818 to Swizerland where they studied natural sciences and languages at the school of J.H. Pestalozzi. They returned to Berlin where R.A. Philippi studied medicine at the Royal Prussian University, from which he graduated in 1830 but would never practice. Instead he began to study geology and biology, fields in which he soon became well-known and was even visited by Alexander von Humboldt. He made a living with various temporary posts, employed personally to research plant fertility and to classify plants from northern Africa and Arabia.

In 1834 his reputation afforded him a post as professor of natural sciences at the Polytechnic School in Kassel, where he would remain for 16 years, becoming particularly interested in Sicilian Molluscs; in 1836 his publication on this subject awarded him a gold medal from Frederick William III of Prussia. The same year he also married his cousin, Karolina Krumwiede, but soon fell ill and the two of them moved to Italy, setting in Naples where their first son Federico was born (1838). In 1840 his health returned and the family moved back to Kassel, where he met up with his brother, Bernhard Eunom Philippi, who had spent many of the intervening years travelling, especially in Chile, and collecting artefacts of every variety. Together they went to Berlin to sell these items and present B.E. Philippi's findings to the Natural Science Society, sponsoring his continuing travels. Later in Chile B.E. Philippi had become a colonising agent for the government and in 1848 he sold the idea of emigrating to the New World to many Germans including his brother, whose liberal views were beginning to make life at home increasingly difficult.

In 1851, after 135 days of travelling on dangerous seas, R.A. Philippi arrived in Chile alone and began to manage his brothers ranch 'San Juan' in Valdivia, allowing him to continue his botanical studies. He would send his plant specimens to the Polish engineer I. Domeyko, who soon arranged for his integration into the University as a correspondent. R.A. Philippi took part in an expedition to Osorno in southern Chile and produced some of the first maps of the region. Also in 1852 he heard the shocking news of his brothers murder in Magallanes and planned to return to Germany, however, the Chilean government tempted him to stay with a fantastic opportunity of permanent employment in Santiago. In 1853 he accepted the role of professor of natural history at the University of Chile and director of the National Museum, which included founding and directing the Botanical Garden, a position Andrés Bello recommended him for. This same year he was contracted to conduct an exploration of the Atacama Desert, which he considered the most important of his expeditions and the first scientific exploration of the region, and spent three months travelling the entirety of the desert in the heat of summer and with scarce resources. On returning his family would move out to Valdivia to live at San Juan. He continued to work in Santiago and visit his family in the summers, collecting the rest of the year to improve the limited collections of the Museum.

In 1860 his son Federico joined him on an expedition to Quebrada de San Ramón and from that point the two worked closely together, the son cataloguing items discovered by his father and dealing with the administration and accounting of the Museum. After returning from his formal education in Germany in 1874 Federico took over his fathers teaching posts and settled in Santiago. Together they would explore much of the country, focusing on botany but also publishing in the fields of palaeontology, entomology, ornithology, marine mammalogy, anthropology and mineralogy. R.A. Philippi usually published the descriptions of new species while his son concentrated on organising and writing up the expedition notes; however, as time went on the handwriting of the pair grew more and more similar and it becomes difficult to distinguish their works.

During his life R.A. Philippi published some 453 articles and described 3,720 new species from Chile. These were published in the German journal Linnaea between 1857 and 1865 and two series in the Anales de la Universidad de Chile (1870-1873 and 1892-1896). In 1876 the much-improved collections of the National Museum were moved to a location in Quinta Normal where he was given land to create the botanical garden. He retired as head of the botanic gardens in 1883 and his son also succeeded him in this role. In 1882 Charles R. Darwin acknowledged R.A. Philippi's contribution to the exploration of the new world, admiring how much more is known about the natural history of Chile that was unknown when he visited, and indeed the understanding of the world, due to Philippi's labours.

Active until old age, and despite his earlier health troubles, he undertook a walking trip from Concepción to Arauco at the age of 82. Unfortunately only two of his ten children were still alive when he died at 96, but Federico would continue his work and transform the National Museum into an internationally renowned institution. Presently there exists a foundation called the 'Fundación R.A. Philippi de Estudios Naturales', a group that unites Chilean nature enthusiasts, the president of which is a descendent, M. Teresa Eyzaguirre Philippi. Indeed many generations of the Philippi family continued to contribute to various fields of science in Chile.