Alfred Philippson

Who was Alfred Philippson?

Alfred Philippson was a German geologist and geographer. He was born at Bonn, son of Ludwig Philippson. He received his education at the gymnasium and university of his native town and at the University of Leipzig. In 1892 he became Privatdozent at Bonn, was appointed assistant professor seven years later, and in 1904 he was called to Bern as professor of geography. Having made voyages through Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Asia Minor, he published: Studien über Wasserscheiden, Berlin, 1886; Der Peloponnes, ib. 1892; Europa, Leipzig, 1894; Thessalien und Epirus, Berlin, 1897; Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Griechischen Inselwelt, Gotha, 1901; Das Mittelmeergebiet, Leipzig, 1904. He also published essays in the technical journals, such as Das fernste Italien. Geographische Reiseskizzen und Studien, Leipzig, 1925, and Apulien, Netherlands, 1937.

Since 1887 Philippson undertook, on a commission from the Berlin Akademie der Wissenschaften, an annual journey to Asia Minor for the purpose of geological investigation. His chief object in these excursions was to study, on a geological basis, the phenomena of the earth's surface both in their interrelationship and in their influence on the human race.