Moritz Richard Schomburgk

Who was Moritz Richard Schomburgk?

Moritz Richard Schomburgk, generally known as Richard Schomburgk, was a German botanist and curator of the Adelaide Botanic Garden.

Schomburgk was born in Freyburg, Saxony, the son of Johann Friedrich Ludwig Schomburgk, and his wife Christiane Juliane Wilhelmine, née Krippendorf. Schomburgk studied botany at Berlin and in the Royal Gardens at Potsdam. In 1844 he went on the Prussian-British expedition to British Guiana and Brazil, led by his brother Robert. He collected for the Museum of the University of Berlin. After the political turmoil in Europe in 1848, he emigrated to Gawler, South Australia. In 1865, he became Director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden, a position he kept until his death and was succeeded by Maurice William Holtze. He wrote Versuch einer Zusammenstellung der Flora und Fauna von Britisch-Guiana.

Schomburgk died in Adelaide, South Australia; he was survived by a son and four daughters.