Biography

German naturalist, Hermann Carl Burmeister made several expeditions to southern South America before settling in Buenos Aires to direct the Public Museum. Born in Stralsund he studied at the University of Greifswald in 1825 and the University of Halle in 1827, where he met the botanist Curt Sprengel who became like a father to him. Burmeister gained a doctorate in medicine and in philosophy in the same year at the age of 23, completing a thesis entitled De Insectorum Systemate Naturali. After a brief stint as a military surgeon he decided to dedicate his life to the study of the natural sciences and became a professor at the University of Berlin (1834-1837). Later he moved to the University of Halle to teach Zoology and married. During this time Burmeister was a member of the First Chamber of Prussia and had strong political convictions, but unfortunately he found himself increasingly discontent with the governmental situation in his native country and in 1850 he left for Brazil. While there Burmeister made many observations and developed a passion for the New World that would remain with him throughout his life. Unfortunately he fractured his right leg and soon returned to Europe, full of enthusiasm for the beauty of the things he had seen. Needless to say Burmeister planned a second trip, this time to Argentina, and he set sail from Southampton in 1856, planning to spend two years there. An association with Alexander von Humboldt meant he was able to extend it to a four year trip however. Burmeister travelled, collected and made observations in Montevideo and the interior of Uruguay before settling for a year in Paraná (Entre Ríos) and then Mendoza. Later he spent time in Córdoba, Catamarca and Tucumán (from which he maintained some of the best memories of his life) and finally visited Chile in 1860.

As soon as he returned home and picked up his teachings Burmeister was making plans to move permanently to Argentina. Having noted a vacancy at the Public Museum of Buenos Aires he went about requesting the post. In 1862 his application was accepted and he began as director of the museum, marrying for the second time to Doña Petrona Tejeda, a woman from Tucumán. Burmeister would occupy this role for the rest of his life, transforming the museum from a cabinet of curiosities into a respected scientific institution, vastly increasing its collections and creating a large library. Two years after arriving he founded the Anales del Museo de Historia Natural and for a brief period (1870-1873) directed the Faculty of Exact Science at the newly re-organised University of Córdoba. This finished due to the difficulty he had in managing six professors from afar.

Burmeister died in an unfortunate accident when he fell down two flights of stairs, but not before he passed directorship of the museum to Carlos Berg. During his life Burmeister produced works in the fields of Zoology, Palaeontology, Geography and Geology, however, insects were his lifelong passion and between 1832 and 1835 he published an eight volume Manual of Entomology. He also published important works on trilobites and accounts of his travels, he founded the Palaeontology Society and a statue of him was erected the Parque Centenaria next to the Museum in Buenos Aires.

Sources:
Anon, 1917, "Germán Burmeister. 25o aniversario de su fallecimiento", Physis, 3(14): 305-306
Berg, C., 1896, "Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister: Reseña Biográfica", Anales de la Sociedad Científica Argentina, 41(2): 97-107
Houssay, B. A., 1942, "La Personalidad de Germán Burmeister", Physis, 19(53): 279-283.