Moritz Wagner

Who was Moritz Wagner?

Moritz Wagner was a German explorer, collector, geographer and natural historian. Wagner devoted three years to the exploration of Algiers: it was here that he made important observations in natural history, which he later supplemented and developed: that geographical isolation could play a key role in speciation.

From 1852–1855, together with Carl Scherzer, Wagner travelled through North and Central America and the Caribbean. In May 1843, Wagner toured the Lake Sevan region of Armenia with Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian. He committed suicide in Munich, aged 73. His brother Rudolf was a physiologist and anatomist.