Gregor von Helmersen
Encyclopedia
Gregor von Helmersen was a Baltic German
geologist
, born at Kammeri
manor , near Tartu
(Dorpat), Estonia
).
He received an engineering training and became major-general in the corps of Mining Engineers. In 1837 he was appointed professor of geology in the mining institute at St Petersburg of which he was also Director.
In 1839 along with Karl Ernst von Baer
he founded the first serial natural scientific publication in Russia known as "Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Russischen Reiches".
A member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences St Petersburg, he founded and became the first head of the Russian Geological Committee (established 1882).
He was author of numerous memoirs on the geology of Russia, especially on the coal
and other mineral deposits of the country; and he wrote also some explanations to accompany separate sheets of the geological map of Russia.
His geological work was continued to an advanced age, one of the later publications being Studien über die Wanderblöcke und die Diluvialgebilde Russlands (1869 and 1882). Most of his memoirs were published by the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg.
Links=
Baltic German
The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total. They formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in...
geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
, born at Kammeri
Kammeri
Kammeri is a village in Kambja Parish, Tartu County in southern Estonia, located about 23 km south of the city of Tartu. In 2000 Kammeri had a population of 92....
manor , near Tartu
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...
(Dorpat), Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
).
He received an engineering training and became major-general in the corps of Mining Engineers. In 1837 he was appointed professor of geology in the mining institute at St Petersburg of which he was also Director.
In 1839 along with Karl Ernst von Baer
Karl Ernst von Baer
Karl Ernst Ritter von Baer, Edler von Huthorn also known in Russia as Karl Maksimovich Baer was an Estonian naturalist, biologist, geologist, meteorologist, geographer, a founding father of embryology, explorer of European Russia and Scandinavia, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a...
he founded the first serial natural scientific publication in Russia known as "Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Russischen Reiches".
A member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences St Petersburg, he founded and became the first head of the Russian Geological Committee (established 1882).
He was author of numerous memoirs on the geology of Russia, especially on the coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and other mineral deposits of the country; and he wrote also some explanations to accompany separate sheets of the geological map of Russia.
His geological work was continued to an advanced age, one of the later publications being Studien über die Wanderblöcke und die Diluvialgebilde Russlands (1869 and 1882). Most of his memoirs were published by the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg.
Links=
- http://www.mois.ee/english/tartu/kammeri.shtml - overview of Kammeri (Duckershof) manor in Estonian Manors Portal