Carl Anton von Meyer

Who was Carl Anton von Meyer?

Carl Anton von Meyer was a German, Russified botanist and explorer.

He received his education at the University of Dorpat as a student of Karl Friedrich von Ledebour, with whom he later embarked on a scientific journey to the Crimea. In 1826, with Ledebour and Alexander G. von Bunge, he took part in an expedition to the Altay Mountains and the Kirghiz Steppe. Plants collected on the trip formed the basis of "Flora Altaica".

In 1835 he began work as a botanist for the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, where he conducted research with Friedrich Ernst Ludwig von Fischer. In 1844 he succeeded Carl Bernhard von Trinius as director of the academy's botanical museum, and in 1850 replaced Fischer as head of the imperial botanical garden. Meyer was the only botanist to have held both positions, being in charge of the garden and museum simultaneously until his death in 1855.