View source for Alexander von Bunge

{{short description|Russian botanist (1803–1890)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image             = Alexander von Bunge.jpg
| caption           = Lithograph by [[Eduard Hau]]
| birth_date        = 6 October 1803
| birth_place       = [[Kiev]], Russian Empire
| death_date        = {{death-date and age|18 July 1890|6 October 1803}}
| citizenship       = 
| fields            = [[Botany]]
| education         = [[Imperial University of Dorpat]]
| workplaces        = [[Imperial University of Dorpat]], [[Kazan Federal University|Kazan University]]
| thesis_title      = De relatione methodi plantarum naturalis in vires vegetabilium medicalis
| author_abbrev_bot = '''Bunge'''
| father            = Andreas Theodor von Bunge
| mother            = Elisabeth von Bunge, née Fuhrmann
| children          =  [[Gustav von Bunge]], [[Alexander von Bunge (physician)|Alexander von Bunge]]
| relatives         = [[Friedrich Georg von Bunge]] (brother)
}}

'''Alexander Georg von Bunge''' ({{langx|ru|Алекса́ндр Андре́евич Бу́нге}}; {{OldStyleDate|6 October|1803|24 September}} – {{OldStyleDate|18 July|1890|6 July}}) was a Russian [[botanist]]. He is best remembered for scientific expeditions into Asia and especially [[Siberia]].

== Early life and education ==
Bunge was born under the name Alexander Andreyevich von Bunge on {{OldStyleDate|6 October|1803|24 September}} in [[Kiev]]<!--See WP:KIEV--> as the second son of a family that belonged to the [[History of Germans in Russia, Ukraine and the Soviet Union|German minority]] in Tsarist Russia. His father, Andreas Theodor was a [[pharmacist]] who had emigrated from [[East Prussia]] to Russia with his grandfather in the 18th century and his mother, Elisabeth von Bunge, {{Nee|Fuhrmann}}. They moved to [[Tartu|Dorpat]] in 1815 after his father's death in 1814, and he attended high school from 1818 to 1821.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Hilbig |first=Werner |date=2013 |title=Alexander von Bunge (1803-1890), ein bedeutender Erforscher der mongolischen Flora |url=https://public.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/index.php/schlechtendalia/article/view/624 |journal=Schlechtendalia |language=de |volume=25 |pages=1–13}}</ref> He was educated at Dorpat, where he attended the [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] from 1821 to 1825.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=McCay |first=Clive M. |date=1953-01-01 |title=Gustav B. von Bunge: (January 19, 1844 – November 5, 1920) |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/49.1.1 |journal=The Journal of Nutrition |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=3–19 |doi=10.1093/jn/49.1.1 |pmid=13023455 |issn=0022-3166|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Then he studied medicine and obtained his [[Doctor of Medicine|doctorate of medicine]] from the [[Imperial University of Dorpat]] in 1825.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Meikar |first1=Toivo |last2=Sander |first2=Heldur |date=2011 |title=Botanical Garden of the University of Tartu (Dorpat) and the Botanical Network in the First Half of the 19th Century |url=https://www.ies.ee/iesp/No9/articles/17_Sander_Meikar.pdf |journal=Baltic Journal of European Studies |volume=1 |issue=19 |pages=230–256}}</ref> He also studied botany there under [[Carl Friedrich von Ledebour]] and completed his thesis entitled ''De relatione methodi plantarum naturalis in vires vegetabilium medicalis'' <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Bunge, Alexander Andrejewitsch (Aleksandr Andreevic (Aleksandrovic)) von (1803-1890) |url=https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000391290 |access-date=13 March 2022 |website=plants.jstor.org}}</ref>

== Expedition to Siberia ==
At early January, he worked as Head of [[Metallurgy]] in the Kolyvan-Voskresensker factory under  P. K. Frolov and as district physician in [[Barnaul]] ([[Tomsk Governorate]]) which located in  Southern [[Siberia]].<ref name=":0" /> The same year he went with Ledebour and [[Carl Anton von Meyer]] on an important scientific expedition to the [[Kazakh Steppe]] and [[Altai Mountains]]. They spent five weeks across Russia to Barnaul during the summer and collected 1,600 plant specimens, which formed the basis of the ''[[Flora Altaica]].'' This book was published in four volumes between 1829 and 1833.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Quattrocchi |first=Umberto |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esMPU5DHEGgC&dq=%22Alexander+von+Bunge%22+Bungea&pg=PA373 |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology |date=1999 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8493-2675-2 |pages=370 |language=en}}</ref>

After the expedition, Bunge lived in [[Kolyvan, Novosibirsk Oblast|Kolyvan]] and transferred to [[Zmeinogorsk]] until 1830. After recommendation by [[Alexander von Humboldt]], whom Bunge met in 1829 when Humboldt visited Altai, he was given a scientific mission  to [[Beijing|Peking]] by  the [[Russian Academy|Academy of St.Petersburg]]. Humboldt was on an expedition financed by [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsar Nicholas]]. He was accompanied by Colonel Ladijenski as ''pristav'' (escort) and Dr. P. Kirilov as physician. Apart from him there were other researchers, including [[Georg Albert von Fuss]] as [[astronomer]] and [[Meteorology|metereologist]], and Kovanko as [[Mineralogy|mineralogist]]. All of them were part of the eleventh ecclesiastical mission, which happened regularly, and were also to pick up the emissary for the tenth ecclesiastical  mission. They went to Peking from the [[border town]] [[Kyakhta|Kjachta]] at the end of O.S August 1830 via [[Urgamal, Zavkhan|Urga]] in September 1830,  and arrived in Peking on 17 November 1830 after crossing the [[Gobi Desert]], and spent the winter in Peking. Bunge continued his research in March 1831 by going to the ruins known as Tsagan Balgasun located in Khalgan  ([[Zhangjiakou]]). His research was finally stopped in May 1821 because he incurred the displeasure of the  Chinese authorities when he stayed at [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[Monastery]] and did not get permission to go out of Peking <ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bretschneider |first=Emil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFU-g42KVEIC&dq=Alexander+Bunge+was+born+in+Kiev&pg=PA323 |title=History of European Botanical Discoveries in China |date=2011 |publisher=SEVERUS Verlag |isbn=978-3-86347-165-1 |pages=324 |language=en}}</ref>

They returned to Russia on 6 July 1831 with the emissary of the tenth ecclesiastical mission by following the western route that bypassed Kalgan and Urga.<ref name=":2" /> They arrived in Russia in early September 1831 with their collection of 450 plant specimens. In addition to plants Bunge collected a few [[beetle]]s,  which were described by [[Franz Faldermann]] in his book ''Coleopterorum ab illustrissimo Bungio in China boreali, Mongolia, et Montibus Altaicis collectorum descriptio''.<ref name=":2" />

After the expedition Bunge lived in [[Irkutsk]] for the rest of the winter. He spent his time in describing his collection.  Most of it was saved in the herbarium of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] in [[Saint Petersburg]] and a small part was saved in the herbarium of the [[Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg|University of Halle]] as part of a herbarium exchange and duplicated what was saved in St. Petersburg.<ref name=":0" /> One of the plants that he named is ''Viburnum fragrans'' Bunge (later renamed [[Viburnum farreri|''Viburnum farreri'' Stearn]], after [[William T. Stearn]]) and also  appeared in  ''Enumeratio plantarum quas in China boreali collegit''.<ref name=":1" />

In April 1832 Bunge returned to his duties as physician in Barnaul, but not long afterwards he made another expedition of the  Russian Academy of Sciences to go to [[Chuya]], located in the eastern Altai mountains.<ref name=":0" /> He went to St. Petersburg in 1833 and was nominated as a member of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] and he also became Professor of Botany in [[Kazan Federal University|Kazan University]].<ref name=":3" />  Bunge spent three years at this university, and during this period, he made an expedition to study plants from the [[Volga region|Volga steppe]] before moving back to Dorpat in 1836 to become professor of botany in the University of Dorpat  and director of the botanical garden.,<ref name=":1" /> replacing Ledebour, who had retired.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Troelstra |first=Anne S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HaclDwAAQBAJ |title=Bibliography of Natural History Travel Narratives |date=2017 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-34378-8 |pages=259 |language=en}}</ref>

During his professorship Bunge made a scientific expedition to [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] and Afghanistan in 1857–58,<ref name=":1" /> and another expedition to [[Iran|Persia]] through [[Herat]] in 1858–1859, led by [[Nikolái Vladímirovich Janykov]]. On the basis of this expedition, Bunge published a botanical treatise for the Russian Academy of Sciences and became an honorary member of the academy in 1875.<ref name=":2" />  He kept in contact with [[Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal]], a botanist at the [[University of Halle]], through correspondence, via articles published in the journal "Linnaea" and through the exchange of [[herbarium]] specimens.<ref name=":0" />  Bunge retired as professor in 1867 and was succeeded by [[Heinrich Moritz Willkomm]].<ref name=":0" />  He remained in Dorpat until 1881, spending his later years there investigating [[Estonia]]n flora.<ref name=":4" /> Bunge edited the [[exsiccata]] ''Flora exsiccata Liv-, Esth- und Kurlands''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Flora exsiccata Liv-, Esth- und Kurlands: IndExs ExsiccataID=1895074175 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=https://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=1895074175 |access-date=17 July 2024}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
He was the father of [[physiologist]] [[Gustav von Bunge]] (1844–1920) <ref name=":4" /> and of [[Alexander von Bunge (physician)|Alexander von Bunge]] (1851–1930), an explorer and [[zoologist]].<ref name="MN">[https://books.google.com/books?id=LcucDSk4w3YC&dq=%22Alexander+von+Bunge%22+%22Bunge+Land%22&pg=PA284 Encyclopedia of the Arctic] by Mark Nuttall</ref> His older brother, [[Friedrich Georg von Bunge]] (1802–1897), was a [[Legal history|legal historian]].<ref name=":0" /> Bunge died on {{OldStyleDate|18 July|1890|6 July}} in Dorpat.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sXM4AQAAMAAJ&dq=18+July+1890+died+alexander+bunge&pg=PA21 |title=Journal: Botany |date=1893 |publisher=Linnean Society of London |volume=26 |pages=21 |language=en}}</ref>

==Commemoration==
;Taxa
*Genus ''[[Bungea]]'' (family [[Orobanchaceae]], formerly a member of the family [[Scrophulariaceae]]).<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":1" />
*''[[Pulsatilla bungeana]]'' from genus ''[[Pulsatilla]]''
*''[[Caragana bungei]]'' from ''genus [[Caragana]]''
*[[Chorispora bungeana]] from genus ''[[Chorispora]]''
*''Dracocephalum origanoides bungeanum'' from species ''[[Dracocephalum origanoides]]''
*[[Ferula bungeana]] from genus ''[[Ferula]]''
*''[[Iris bungei]]'' from genus ''[[Iris (plant)|Iris]]''
*''[[Lagochilus bungei]]'' from genus ''[[Lagochilus]]''
*''[[Oxytropis bungei]]'' from genus [[Oxytropis]] 
*''[[Stellaria bungeana]]'' from genus ''[[Stellaria]]''
*''[[Ziziphora bungeana]]'' from genus ''[[Ziziphora]]''<ref name=":0" />
*''[[Euonymus hamiltonianus|Euonymus bungeanus]]'' from genus ''[[Euonymus]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lancaster |first=Roy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjBFAQAAIAAJ&q=Euonymus+bungeanus+alexander+bunge |title=Plantsman's Paradise: Travels in China |date=2008 |publisher=Garden Art Press/Antique Collecters' Club |isbn=978-1-85149-515-3 |pages=40 |language=en}}</ref>
*''[[Allium bungei]]'' from genus ''[[Allium]].{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}''
*''[[Pinus bungeana]]'' from genus ''[[Pinus]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lacebark Pine |url=https://naturewalk.yale.edu/trees/pinaceae-pine/pinus-bungeana/lacebark-pine-85 |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=naturewalk.yale.edu}}</ref>
*''[[Fraxinus bungeana]]'' from genus ''[[Fraxinus]]{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}''
*''[[Clerodendrum bungei]]'' from genus ''[[Clerodendrum]]''<ref>{{Citation |title=Clerodendrum bungei |date=2005-03-19 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/clerodendrum-bungei/9423882 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |language=en-AU |access-date=2022-03-15}}</ref>
*''[[Catalpa bungei]]'' from genus ''[[Catalpa]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Olsen and |first1=Richard T. |last2=Kirkbride, Jr |first2=Joseph H. |title=Manchurian Catalpa Catalpa bungei |url=http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2010-68-2-manchurian-catalpa-catalpa-bungei.pdf |access-date=15 March 2022 |archive-date=31 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331005121/http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2010-68-2-manchurian-catalpa-catalpa-bungei.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*''[[Girgensohnia bungeana]]'' from genus ''[[Girgensohnia]].''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sukhorukov |first=A. P. |title=Notes on the Taxonomy of Girgensohnia (Chenopodiaceae / Amaranthaceae) |date=2007 |url=https://journals.rbge.org.uk/ejb/article/view/1190 |journal=Edinburgh Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=317–330 |doi=10.1017/S0960428607004751 |issn=1474-0036|doi-access=free }}</ref>

;Places
A [[Impact crater|crater]] on [[Mars]] and a place in [[New Siberian Islands|New Siberian Island]] called [[Bunge Land|Bungeland]] was named after him.<ref name=":1" />

== Bibliography ==
* F''lora Altaica; scripsit Carolus Fridericus a Ledebour, adiutoribus Car. Ant. Meyer et Al. a Bunge. Tomus I'' (1829)''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ledebour |first1=Karl Friedrich von |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/6618 |title=Flora Altaica |last2=Bunge |first2=Alexander von |last3=Meyer |first3=Carl Anton |date=1829 |publisher=G. Reimeri |volume=I |location=Berolini |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.6618}}</ref>''
* ''Flora Altaica; scripsit Carolus Fridericus a Ledebour, adiutoribus Car. Ant. Meyer et Al. a Bunge. Tomus II'' (1830)''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ledebour |first=Carl Friedrich “von” |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OshaAAAAcAAJ&q=flora%20altaica;%20scripsit%20carolus%20fridericus%20a%20ledebour,%20adiutoribus%20car.%20ant.%20meyer%20et%20al.%20a%20bunge |title=Flora Altaica. Scripsit D. Carolus Fridericus A Ledebour ... Adiutoribus D. Car. Ant. Meyer Et D. Al. A Bunge |date=1830 |publisher=Reimer |volume=II |language=la}}</ref>''
* ''Flora Altaica; scripsit Carolus Fridericus a Ledebour, adiutoribus Car. Ant. Meyer et Al. a Bunge. Tomus III'' (1831)''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ledebour |first1=Karl Friedrich von |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/29331 |title=Flora Altaica |last2=Bunge |first2=Alexander von |last3=Meyer |first3=Carl Anton |publisher=G. Reimeri |volume=3 |location=Berolini}}</ref>''
* ''Flora Altaica; scripsit Carolus Fridericus a Ledebour, adiutoribus Car. Ant. Meyer et Al. a Bunge. Tomus IV'' (1832)''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ledebour |first1=Carl Friedrich von |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mxg4No_qtBQC |title=Flora altaica: scripsit D. Carolus Fridericus a Ledebour ... |last2=Bunge |first2=Alexander von |last3=Meyer |first3=Carl Anton |date=1833 |publisher=typis et impensis G. Reimeri |volume=IV |language=la}}</ref>''
* ''Enumeratio plantarum quas in China boreali collegit Dr. Al. Bunge. Anno 1831.'' (1832)''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bunge |first=Alexander von |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/41483 |title=Enumeratio plantarum quas in China boreali collegit Dr. Al. Bunge. |date=1835 |publisher=s.n. |location=Petropoli |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.41483}}</ref>''
* ''Plantarum mongolica-chinensium decas fine.'' (1835)
* ''Verzeichniss der im Jahre 1832 im östlichen Theile des Altai-Gebirges gesammelten Pflanzen. Ein Supplement zur Flora Altaica''  written with Ledebour (1836)  <ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bunge |first1=Alexander von |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/41393 |title=Verzeichniss der im Jahre 1832 im östlichen Theile des Altai-Gebirges gesammelten Pflanzen. Ein Supplement zur Flora Altaica |last2=Ledebour |first2=Karl Friedrich von |date=1836 |publisher=Kaiserliche Acad. der Wissenschaften |location=St. Petersburg |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.41393}}</ref>
* ''Anleitung zum Studium der Botanik, oder Grundriss Dieser Wissenschaft&nbsp; Enthaltend die Organographie, Physiologie, Methodologie, die Pflanzen, Geographie, eine Ubersich der fossilen der pharmaceustischen Botanik und der Geschichte der Botanik'' written with [[Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle]] (1838) ''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Candolle |first1=Alphonse de |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/41368 |title=Anleitung zum Studium der Botanik, oder Grundriss Dieser Wissenschaft Enthaltend die Organographie, Physiologie, Methodologie, die Pflanzen, Geographie, eine Ubersich der fossilen der pharmaceustischen Botanik und der Geschichte der Botanik |last2=Bunge |first2=Alexander von |date=1838 |publisher=K. F. Köhler |location=Leipzig |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.41368}}</ref>''
* ''Alexandri Lehmann reliquiae botanicae; sive, Enumeratio plantarum in itinere per deserta Asiae Mediae ab A. Lehmann annis 1839–1842 collectarum. Scripsit Al. Bunge.'' (1847)''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bunge |first=Alexander von |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/40758 |title=Alexandri Lehmann reliquiae botanicae; sive, Enumeratio plantarum in itinere per deserta Asiae Mediae ab A. Lehmann annis 1839-1842 collectarum. |date=1847 |location=Dorpati |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.40758}}</ref>''
* ''Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Flor Russlands und der Steppen Central-Asiens,'' (1851) ''–'' Contribution to the knowledge of flora native to Russia and the steppes of Central Asia''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bunge |first=Alexander von |url=http://archive.org/details/mobot31753000517331 |title=Beitrag zur kenntniss der flor Russlands und der steppen Central?Asiens /von Al. Bunge. |date=1851 |publisher=St. Petersburg : Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften |others=Missouri Botanical Garden}}</ref>''
* ''Tentamen generis Tamaricum species accuratius definiendi.'' (1852)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bunge |first=Alexander von |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/41378 |title=Tentamen generis Tamaricum species accuratius definiendi. |date=1852 |publisher=J. C. Schuenmanni et C. Mattieseni |location=Dorpati |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.41378}}</ref>
* ''Plantas Abichianas in itineribus per Caucasum regionesque Transcaucasicas collectas, enumeravit A. Bunge.'' (1858)''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bunge |first1=Alexander von |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/9828 |title=Plantas Abichianas in itineribus per Caucasum regionesque Transcaucasicas collectas |last2=Abich |first2=H. |date=1858 |publisher=Buchdr. der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften |location=St. Petersburg |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.9828}}</ref>''
* ''Generis Astragali species gerontogeae.'' (1868–1869)''.<ref name=":1" />''
* ''Die Gattung Acantholimon Boiss.'' (1872)''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bunge |first=Alexander von |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/41374 |title=Die Gattung Acantholimon Boiss. |date=1872 |publisher=Eggers |location=St.-Pétersbourg |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.41374}}</ref>''
* ''Labiatae persicae,'' (1873)''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bunge |first=Alexander von |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/41371 |title=Labiatae Persicae |date=1873 |location=St.-Pétersbourg |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.41371}}</ref>''

{{Botanist|Bunge|Bunge, Alexander}}

==See also==
* [[List of Baltic Germans#Scientists|List of Baltic German scientists]]
* [[:Category:Taxa named by Alexander von Bunge]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{BHL author}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunge, Alexander}}
[[Category:1803 births]]
[[Category:1890 deaths]]
[[Category:Scientists from Tartu]]
[[Category:Ethnic German people from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Estonian explorers]]
[[Category:Estonian zoologists]]
[[Category:Russian people of German descent]]
[[Category:Explorers of Siberia]]
[[Category:19th-century explorers from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century Estonian botanists]]

[[Category:19th-century botanists from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Tartu]]
[[Category:Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Burials at Raadi cemetery]]