Amalie Dietrich

Koncordie Amalie Dietrich (née Nelle) (May 6, 1821 - 1891) was a German naturalist who was best known for her pioneering work in Australia, where she spent 10 years collecting specimens for the Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg.

Amalie was born in Siebenlehn, Saxony, German Confederation. In 1846, Amalie married Wilhelm August Salomo Dietrich, a doctor. Wilhelm taught Amalie about collecting and they planned to make a living working as naturalists, and worked for a number of years making collections in Europe. Charitas, their only daughter was born in 1848. In 1861, Amalie learned that her husband had been having an affair, and they separated. She later returned to him, and left again when she was 40 deciding to make a life for herself and her daughter.

She was employed as a naturalist by Johann Caesar VI Godeffroy (1818 - 1885), a wealthy shipping magnate who at the time was establishing the Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg. She was the only female collector employed by Godeffroy and he sent her to Australia. Dietrich left her daughter in boarding school and travelled to Brisbane, Australia, arriving on August 7, 1863.

Dietrich collected a wide range of natural specimens and artifacts created by Indigenous Australians. She is thought to have been the first person to collect the deadly snake known as the taipan, and her bird collection is thought to be the largest ever collected by a single person. Her collection of spiders formed the basis of the major reference work on Australian spiders. She travelled widely in Queensland collecting in Brisbane, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay, Lake Elphinstone and Bowen. She returned to the German Empire in 1872.

Godeffroy kept Dietrich's best specimens for his museum and sold others to museums in Europe. Naturalists in Europe were excited by her collections and named many species in her honour, including the wasp "Nortonia amaliae" and the tree "Acacia dietrichiana". Her collections formed the basis of "Zur Flora von Queensland" by C. Luerssen. She never published anything in her name; however, her collections remain in museums in Europe to this day.

Two books have been written about her experience. Her daughter, Charitas Bischoff, published a largely fictional account of her life and work, "The Hard Road. The Life Story of Amalie Dietrich, Naturalist 1821-1891", and in 1993 a factual biography was written by Ray Sumner, "A Woman in the Wilderness, The Story of Amalie Dietrich in Australia", NSW University Press ISBN 0-86840-197-8. The State Opera of South Australia commissioned a one-act opera in her honor in 1985, "The Letters of Amalie Dietrich", about Amalie and her daughter. It was written by Ralph Middenway and librettist Andrew Taylor but has never been performed.

References

*Australian Science Archives Project. 1998. [http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/dietrich/dietrich.htm Amalie Dietrich 1821- 1891]
*" [http://comstech.com.au/~venteman/Amalie.htm The Letters of Amalie Dietrich] "
*Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Amalie|Last=Dietrich|Link=http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogD.html#dietrich1