Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter

Who was Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter?

Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter, was a Baltic German botanist, specialising in the flora of the Caucasus and central Asia.

He was the son of Friedrich Wilhelm Trautvetter, Royal Saxon privy and agent at St. Petersburg, who in 1825 at Dresden received the German nobility title from the Saxon court.

He studied medicine and natural sciences at the University of Dorpat. From 1829 to 1831, he conducted botanical field trips throughout Livonia, returning to Jelgava in 1831 as a private instructor. In 1833 he began work as an assistant at the botanical garden in Dorpat, two years later, performing similar duties in St. Petersburg. In 1838 he relocated to Kiev as a professor of botany and director of the botanical garden. During his many years in Kiev, he served as university rector from 1847 to 1859. Later in his career, he returned to the botanical garden in St. Petersburg as an administrator and director. Here, he was tasked with publishing an account of the garden's history.

He is honoured in the name of the maple, Acer trautvetteri, native to the Caucasus, and the genus Trautvetteria.