- Ernst Dieffenbach
Johann Karl Ernst Dieffenbach (
Gießen January 27 ,1811 - GießenJanuary 10 ,1855 ) was a German physician, geologist and naturalist, the first trained scientist to live and work inNew Zealand , where he travelled widely under the auspices of theNew Zealand Company , returning in 1841–42 and publishing in English his "Travels in New Zealand" in 1843.Dieffenbach had gained a degree at the university of Giessen and then, accused by authorities in the Grand Duchy of Hesse of being subversive, he fled, first to Zurich, where he received a degree in medicine before being expelled in 1836 for politics and
duel ling; in 1837 he arrived in London, where he eked out a living teaching German, but gained a reputation by his contributions to medical and scientific journals and made friendships with geologistsCharles Lyell andRichard Owen among others. Recommendations put him aboard the "Tory" bound for New Zealand, travelling in the capacity of surgeon, surveyor and naturalist.During the 1840s he was a correspondent of
Charles Darwin , whose "Journal of Researches" Dieffenbach translated into German and published, with Darwin's notes and corrections, as "Naturwissenschaftlichen Reisen" (Brunswick, 1853). Darwin knew Dieffenbach's paper on theChatham Islands , contributed to the journal of theRoyal Geographical Society , and he particularly noted Dieffenbach's commentary on the differences between the species of birds there and in New Zealand. Dieffenbach also translated the "Geological Manual" ofHenry De la Beche . Partly as a result of these efforts, in 1850 he was named adjunct professor of geology atGießen , a post he held until his death.The extinct Dieffenbach's Rail, "Gallirallus dieffenbachii", a flightless rail formerly endemic to the Chatham Islands, was named after him. The plant genus "
Dieffenbachia " also commemorates him.External links
* [http://darwin.lib.cam.ac.uk/perl/nav?pclass=name;pkey=Dieffenbach%2C%20Ernst;refs=y Correspondence with Charles Darwin]
* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/D/DieffenbachErnst/DieffenbachErnst/en "Encyclopaedia of New Zealand" 1966:] Ernst Dieffenbach
* [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1D13 "Dictionary of New Zealand Biography"]
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