Oskar Lenz

Oskar Lenz.

Oskar Lenz (April 13, 1848 - March 1, 1925) was a German-Austrian geologist and mineralogist who was a native of Leipzig.

In 1870 he earned his doctorate in mineralogy and geology at the University of Leipzig. Three years later he became an Austrian citizen and a civil servant at the Imperial Geological Institute in Vienna.

In 1879-80 he led the first trans-Sahara expedition from Morocco to Senegal. The primary purpose of the expedition was to perform geological studies of the region, investigating the possibilities of iron ore deposits. In 1880, with his companion Cristobal Benítez, he became only the fourth European to visit the fabled city of Timbuktu. The others being, Alexander Gordon Laing (1826), René Caillié (1828) and Heinrich Barth (1853).

In 1885-87 he directed the Austro-Hungarian Congo Expedition, which involved crossing the African continent from the Congo eastward to the Indian Ocean. The main reasons of this project were to survey the economic trade situation in the newly-established Congo Free State and to map the watershed between the Nile and Congo Rivers. On this expedition, he was accompanied by cartographer Oskar Baumann. Following the completion of his duties in Africa, he became a professor at the University of Prague.

Published works

• Skizzen aus Westafrika (Sketches of West Africa), (1878)
• Timbuktu: Reise durch Morokko die Sahara und den Sudan (Timbuktu, Journey through Morocco, the Sahara and the Sudan) (1884), translated into French in 1886 by Pierre Lehautcourt as Timbouctou, voyage au Maroc, au Sahara et au Soudan.
• Lenz, Oskar (1886-87) (in French), Timbouctou : voyage au Maroc, au Sahara et au Soudan, Lehautcourt, Pierre (trans.), Paris: Hachette . Gallica: Volume 1, Volume 2.
• Wanderungen in Afrika (Travels in Africa), (1895)

References

• This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.
• Literature of Travel and Exploration by Jennifer Speake

Persondata
Name	Lenz, Oskar
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 13, 1848
Place of birth
Date of death	March 1, 1925
Place of death