View source for Georg Forster

{{Short description|German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary}}
{{pp-move}}
{{for-multi|the German Renaissance editor and composer|Georg Forster (composer)|other people named George Forster|George Forster (disambiguation)}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Georg Forster
| image             = Georg Forster.jpg
| caption           = Georg Forster in 1781, age 26
| honorific_suffix  = [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]
| birth_date        = {{birth date text|27 November 1754}}
| birth_name        = Johann George Adam Forster
| birth_place       = [[Mokry Dwór, Pomeranian Voivodeship|Nassenhuben]], Pomeranian Voivodeship, Crown of the Kingdom of Poland
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1794|1|10|1754|11|27|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Paris]], French Republic
| education         = [[Saint Peter's School (Saint Petersburg)]], [[Warrington Academy]]
| known_for         = Founding modern travel literature
| parents           = [[Johann Reinhold Forster]] and Justina Elisabeth, née Nicolai
| spouse            = [[Therese Huber|Therese Heyne]]
| children          = [[Therese Forster]]<br/>[[Claire von Greyerz]]
| awards            = [[Fellow of the Royal Society]], 1777
| field             = [[natural history]], [[ethnology]]
| workplaces        = [[Vilnius University]], [[University of Mainz]], [[Collegium Carolinum (Kassel)]]
| patrons           = [[Catherine the Great]]
| signature         = Georg Forster signature.png
| author_abbrev_bot = '''G.Forst.'''
}}

'''Johann George Adam Forster''', also known as '''Georg Forster'''{{refn|group=nb|Forster was baptised "Johann George Adam Forster", with the English spelling "George", widely used in the Danzig area at the time,{{sfn|Gordon|1975|p=9}} possibly chosen commemorating the family's ancestors from Yorkshire.{{sfn|Thomas|Berghof|2000|p=425}} The German form of his name is also common in English (for example, [[Thomas P. Saine]]'s English-language biography is titled "Georg Forster"),{{sfn|Saine|1972}} which helps to distinguish him from [[George Forster (traveller)|George Forster]], a contemporaneous English traveller.{{sfn|Rosove|2015}}}} ({{IPA|de|ˈɡeːɔʁk ˈfɔʁstɐ|lang}}; 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German [[geography|geographer]], [[natural history|naturalist]], [[ethnology|ethnologist]], [[travel literature|travel writer]], journalist and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, [[Johann Reinhold Forster]], on several scientific expeditions, including [[James Cook]]'s [[Second voyage of James Cook|second voyage]] to the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]]. His report of that journey, ''[[A Voyage Round the World]]'', contributed significantly to the ethnology of the people of [[Polynesia]] and remains a respected work. As a result of the report, Forster, who was admitted to the [[Royal Society]] at the early age of twenty-two, came to be considered one of the founders of modern scientific travel literature.

After returning to continental Europe, Forster turned toward academia. He taught natural history at the [[Collegium Carolinum (Kassel)|Collegium Carolinum]] in the [[Ottoneum]], [[Kassel]] (1778–84), and later at the [[Vilnius University|Academy of Vilna (Vilnius University)]] (1784–87). In 1788, he became [[librarian|head librarian]] at the [[University of Mainz]]. Most of his scientific work during this time consisted of essays on [[botany]] and ethnology, but he also prefaced and translated many books about travel and exploration, including a German translation of Cook's diaries.

Forster was a central figure of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] in Germany, and corresponded with most of its adherents, including his close friend [[Georg Christoph Lichtenberg]]. His ideas, travelogues and personality influenced [[Alexander von Humboldt]], one of the great scientists of the 19th century{{sfn|Daum|2019b|pp=19–21, 43}} who hailed Forster as the founder of both comparative ethnology (''Völkerkunde'') and regional geography (''Länderkunde'').<ref>Alexander von Humboldt in ''Kosmos'' (1874), quoted in Jovanović, Lazar, 2020. "The Cosmopolitan Circumnavigator of the South Seas: A Biography of Georg Forster", in Bérose – ''Encyclopédie internationale des histoires de l'anthropologie'', Paris.</ref>
When the French took control of [[Mainz]] in 1792, Forster played a leading role in the [[Mainz Republic]], the earliest [[republicanism|republican]] state in Germany. During July 1793 and while he was in Paris as a delegate of the young Mainz Republic, [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] and [[Habsburg monarchy|Austrian]] coalition forces regained control of the city and Forster was declared an outlaw. Unable to return to Germany and separated from his friends and family, he died in Paris of illness in early 1794, not yet 40.

{{botanist|G.Forst.|inline=y}}

== Early life ==
Georg Forster was born in [[Mokry Dwór, Pomeranian Voivodeship|Nassenhuben]]{{sfn|Thomas|Berghof|2000|p=xix}}{{refn|group=nb|Some sources indicate that the birth took place in the rectory of [[Wiślina|Hochzeit]], a village very close to Nassenhuben on the other side of the [[Motława]] river.{{sfn|Hoare|1976|pp=15–16}}}} (now Mokry Dwór, Poland), a small village near Danzig, on 27 November 1754.{{sfn|Enzensberger|1996|p=10}}{{sfn|Uhlig|2004|p=18}}{{refn|group=nb|Some variants of the date of birth exist in the literature, with 26 November common in earlier literature.{{sfn|Saine|1972|p=18}}{{sfn|Hoare|1976|p=18}} The baptism registries of Nassenhuben and of {{ill|St Peter and Paul, Gdańsk|de|St. Peter und Paul (Danzig)|pl|Kościół św. Piotra i Pawła w Gdańsku}} list 27 November as date of birth and 5 December as date of baptism.{{sfn|Strehlke|1861|pp=201–203}}{{sfn|Enzensberger|1996|p=15}} The date of 27 November is claimed by both father and son;{{sfn|Uhlig|2004|p=353}} for example, Reinhold's diary entry for 27 November 1772 starts "This day was George's birthday & we were all very happy."{{sfn|Forster|1982|p=184}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Forster |first=Johann Reinhold |title=Continuation of a Journal of a Voyage on board his Majesties Ship Resolution |url=https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/?PPN=PPN833628925&PHYSID=PHYS_0007 |access-date=31 December 2024 |website=Digitalisierte Sammlungen der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin}}</ref>}} Georg was the oldest of seven surviving children of [[Johann Reinhold Forster]], a [[Calvinism|Reformed Protestant]] pastor and scholar, and his wife Justina Elisabeth, {{nee|Nicolai}}.{{sfn|Thomas|Berghof|2000|p=xix}}{{sfn|Hoare|1976|pp=15–16}} From an early age, Georg was interested in the study of nature, and his father first learned natural history from the books of [[Carl Linnaeus]] and then taught his son biology as well as Latin, French, and religion.{{sfn|Hoare|1976|pp=21–22}}{{sfn|Uhlig|2004|pp=19–20}} In 1765, Reinhold obtained a commission by the Russian government to inspect the recently founded colonies near [[Saratov]] on the [[Volga River]], which were mostly settled by [[Volga German|German colonists]].{{sfn|Hoare|1976|pp=25–26}} Ten-year old Georg accompanied his father on the {{convert|4000|km|mi|-2|abbr=on}} journey, which reached the [[Kalmyk Steppe]] and [[Lake Elton]], and collected hundreds of specimens of plants, helping his father with naming and identification.{{sfn|Hoare|1976|p=31}} From October 1765, he attended [[Saint Peter's School (Saint Petersburg)|Saint Peter's School]] in St Petersburg,{{sfn|Uhlig|2004|p=26}} while his father prepared a report about the state of the colony.{{sfn|Hoare|1976|pp=32–33}} Reinhold's report was critical of the voivode of Saratov and of the conditions in the colony, and the Forsters left Russia without payment amidst quarrel with [[Grigory Orlov]].{{sfn|Uhlig|2004|p=26}}{{sfn|Hoare|1976|pp=33–36}} After a sea journey from Kronstadt, during which Georg learned English and practiced Russian, they arrived in London on 4 October 1766.{{sfn|Uhlig|2004|p=27}}{{sfn|Hoare|1976|p=36}} Twelve-year old Georg competently translated [[Mikhail Lomonosov|Lomonosov]]'s history of Russia into English and continued it until the present, and the printed book was presented to the [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Society of Antiquaries]] on 21 May 1767.{{sfn|Gordon|1975|pp=30–31}}{{sfn|Uhlig|2004|p=28}} His father took up a teaching position at [[Warrington Academy]] in June 1767, succeeding [[Joseph Priestley]], leaving Georg behind in London as apprentice with a London merchant until the rest of the family arrived in England in September 1767.{{sfn|Uhlig|2004|p=29}}{{sfn|Hoare|1976|pp=50–51}} In Warrington, Georg learned classics and religion from [[John Aikin (Unitarian)|John Aikin]], mathematics from John Holt and French and natural history from his father.{{sfn|Hoare|1976|p=52}}{{sfn|Steiner|1977|p=12}}

== Around the world with Captain Cook ==
[[File:Captainjamescookportrait.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. 1775, [[National Maritime Museum]], Greenwich]]

The Forsters moved back to London in 1770,{{sfn|Hoare|1976|p=67}} where Reinhold Forster cultivated scientific contacts and became a member of the [[Royal Society]] in 1772.{{sfn|Hoare|1976|pp=68–69}} After the withdrawal of [[Joseph Banks]], he was invited by the [[British Admiralty]] to join [[James Cook]]'s [[Second voyage of James Cook|second expedition]] to the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] (1772–75). Georg Forster joined his father in the expedition again and was appointed as a [[technical drawing|draughtsman]] to his father. Johann Reinhold Forster's task was to work on a scientific report of the journey's discoveries that was to be published after their return.{{sfn|Aulie|1999a}}<!-- replace -->

They embarked [[HMS Resolution (Cook)|HMS ''Resolution'']] on 13 July 1772, in [[Plymouth]]. The ship's route led first to the [[Atlantic Ocean|South Atlantic]], then through the Indian Ocean and the [[Southern Ocean]] to the islands of [[Polynesia]] and finally around [[Cape Horn]] back to England, returning on 30 July 1775. During the three-year journey, the explorers visited New Zealand, the [[Tonga]] islands, [[New Caledonia]], [[Tahiti]], the [[Marquesas Islands]] and [[Easter Island]]. They went further south than anybody before them, almost discovering [[Antarctica]]. The journey conclusively disproved the ''[[Terra Australis]] Incognita'' theory, which claimed there was a big, habitable continent in the South.{{sfn|Thomas|Berghof|2000|p=xxii}}

Supervised by his father, Georg Forster first undertook studies of the [[zoology]] and [[botanics]] of the southern seas, mostly by drawing animals and plants. However, Georg also pursued his own interests, which led to completely independent explorations in comparative [[geography]] and [[ethnology]].{{sfn|Daum|2019a}}<!-- check--> He quickly learned the languages of the Polynesian islands. His reports on the people of Polynesia are well regarded today, as they describe the inhabitants of the southern islands with empathy, sympathy and largely without [[Western culture|Western]] or Christian bias.{{sfn|Ackerknecht|1955|pp=85–86}}<!-- modernise-->

[[File:Hodges, Resolution and Adventure in Matavai Bay.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|''[[HMS Resolution (1771)|Resolution]] and [[HMS Adventure (1771)|Adventure]] in [[Matavai Bay]]'' by [[William Hodges]]]]

Unlike [[Louis Antoine de Bougainville]], whose reports from a journey to Tahiti a few years earlier had initiated uncritical ''[[noble savage]]'' romanticism, Forster developed a sophisticated picture of the societies of the South Pacific islands.{{sfn|Ackerknecht|1955|pp=86–87}} He described various [[social structure]]s and religions that he encountered on the [[Society Islands]], Easter Island and in Tonga and New Zealand, and ascribed this diversity to the difference in living conditions of these people. At the same time, he also observed that the languages of these fairly widely scattered islands were similar. About the inhabitants of the [[Nomuka]] islands (in the [[Ha'apai]] island group of present-day Tonga), he wrote that their languages, vehicles, weapons, furniture, clothes, tattoos, style of beard, in short all of their being matched perfectly with what he had already seen while studying tribes on [[Tongatapu]]. However, he wrote, "we could not observe any subordination among them, though this had strongly characterised the natives of Tonga-Tabboo, who seemed to descend even to servility in their obeisance to the king."<ref name="VTW TT">Forster, Georg. ''A Voyage Round the World'', Book II, Chapter VIII</ref>

The journey was rich in scientific results. However, the relationship between the Forsters and Cook and his officers was often problematic, due to the elder Forster's fractious temperament{{sfn|Thomas|Berghof|2000|pp=xxii–xxvi}}<!-- it would be great to have some quotes from Michael Hoare: "The Tactless Philosopher", a bio of JR Forster--> as well as Cook's refusal to allow more time for botanical and other scientific observation. Cook refused scientists on his third journey after his experiences with the Forsters.{{sfn|Saine|1972|p=22}}

== Founder of modern travel literature ==
[[File:TannaGroundDove.jpg|thumb|One of Forster's many illustrations of birds now extinct, the [[Tanna ground dove]], also known as Forster's dove of Tanna]]
These conflicts continued after the journey with the problem of who should write the official account of the travels. [[John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich|Lord Sandwich]], although willing to pay the promised money, was irritated with Johann Reinhold Forster's opening chapter and tried to have it edited. However, Forster did not want to have his writing corrected "like a theme of a School-boy", and stubbornly refused any compromise.{{sfn|Aulie|1999a}}<!-- replace--> As a result, the official account was written by Cook, and the Forsters were deprived of the right to compile the account and did not obtain payment for their work. During the negotiations, the younger Forster decided to release an unofficial account of their travels. In 1777, his book ''[[A Voyage Round the World|A Voyage Round the World in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop Resolution, Commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the Years, 1772, 3, 4, and 5]]'' was published. This report was the first account of Cook's second voyage (it appeared six weeks before the official publication) and was intended for the general public. The English version and his own translation into German (published 1778–80) earned the young author real fame. The poet [[Christoph Martin Wieland]] praised the book as the most important one of his time, and even today it remains one of the most important journey descriptions ever written. The book also had a significant impact on German literature, culture and science, influencing such scientists as [[Alexander von Humboldt]]{{sfn|Smith|1990|p=218}} and it inspired many [[ethnology|ethnologists]] of later times.

Forster wrote well-polished German prose, which was not only scientifically accurate and objective, but also exciting and easy to read. This differed from conventional [[travel literature]] of the time, insofar as it presented more than a mere collection of data – it also demonstrated coherent, colourful and reliable [[ethnography|ethnographical]] facts that resulted from detailed and sympathetic observation. He often interrupted the description to enrich it with philosophical remarks about his observations.{{sfn|Thomas|Berghof|2000|pp=xiii–xiv}} His main focus was always on the people he encountered: their behavior, customs, habits, religions and forms of social organization. In ''A Voyage Round the World'' he even presented the songs sung by the people of [[Polynesia]], complete with lyrics and [[musical notation|notation]]. The book is one of the most important sources concerning the societies of the Southern Pacific from the times before European influence had become significant.<ref name="Dawson2011">Ruth P. Dawson, "Navigating Gender: Georg Forster in the Pacific and Emilie von Berlepsch in Scotland." In: ''Weimar Classicism'', ed. David Gallagher. Lampeter, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press, 2011. 39–64.</ref><!-- find other source -->

Both Forsters also published descriptions of their South Pacific travels in the Berlin-based ''Magazin von merkwürdigen neuen Reisebeschreibungen'' ("''Magazine of strange new travel accounts''"), and Georg published a translation of "''A Voyage to the South Sea, by Lieutenant [[William Bligh]], London 1792''" in 1791–93.<!-- use Steiner or Uhlig -->

== Forster at universities ==
The publication of ''A Voyage Round the World'' brought Forster scientific recognition all over Europe.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gray|first=Sally Hatch|url=http://openinquiryarchive.net/2012/04/28/disinterested-pleasure-and-aesthetic-autonomy/|title=Disinterested Pleasure and Aesthetic Autonomy in Georg Forster's Voyage 'round the World|journal=Open Inquiry Archive|volume=1|issue=5|year=2012|access-date=23 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024105542/http://openinquiryarchive.net/2012/04/28/disinterested-pleasure-and-aesthetic-autonomy/|archive-date=24 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The respectable [[Royal Society]] made him a member on 9 January 1777,<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.royalsoc.co.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id=778|title = Fellows of the Royal Society – F|access-date = 8 May 2015|publisher = Royal Society|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071008133318/http://www.royalsoc.co.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id=778|archive-date = 8 October 2007}}</ref> though he was not even 23 years old. He was granted similar titles from academies ranging from [[Berlin Society of Friends of Natural Science|Berlin]] to [[Royal Madrilenian Academy of Medicine|Madrid]].{{sfn|Uhlig|2004|p=75}} These appointments, however, were unpaid.

He travelled to Paris to seek out a discussion with the American revolutionary [[Benjamin Franklin]] in 1777.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url = http://harpers.org/blog/2008/04/georg-forsters-recollection-of-benjamin-franklin/|title = Georg Forster's Recollection of Benjamin Franklin|date = 13 April 2008|access-date = 8 May 2015|magazine = Harper's Magazine|last1 = Horton|first1 = Scott|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150708031910/http://harpers.org/blog/2008/04/georg-forsters-recollection-of-benjamin-franklin/|archive-date = 8 July 2015|url-status = live}}</ref> In 1778, he went to Germany to take a teaching position as a Natural History professor at the [[Collegium Carolinum (Kassel)|Collegium Carolinum]] in [[Kassel]], where he met [[Therese Huber|Therese Heyne]], the daughter of classicist [[Christian Gottlob Heyne]]. They married in 1785 (which was after he left Kassel) and had two surviving children, [[Therese Forster]] and Clara Forster, but an unhappy marriage. She would eventually leave him for [[Ludwig Ferdinand Huber]] and became one of the first independent female writers in Germany. . From his time in Kassel on, Forster actively corresponded with important figures of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], including [[Gotthold Ephraim Lessing|Lessing]], [[Johann Gottfried Herder|Herder]], [[Christoph Martin Wieland|Wieland]] and [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]. He also initiated cooperation between the Carolinum in Kassel and the [[University of Göttingen]] where his friend [[Georg Christoph Lichtenberg]] worked. Together, they founded and published the scientific and literary journal ''Göttingisches Magazin der Wissenschaften und Litteratur''.{{sfn|Saine|1972|p=27}} Forster's closest friend, [[Samuel Thomas von Sömmering]], arrived in Kassel shortly after Forster, and both were soon involved with the [[Rosicrucian]]s in Kassel, where Forster took the secret name ''Amadeus Sragorisinus Segenitor''.<ref name="harp_intro">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Das Abenteuer der Freiheit und die Liebe zur Welt |encyclopedia=Georg Forster: Reise um die Welt : illustriert von eigener Hand |publisher=Eichborn |location=Frankfurt am Main |last=Harpprecht |first=Klaus |date=2007 |page=22 |isbn=978-3-8218-6203-3 |oclc=173842524}}</ref>

[[File:ForsterUniversitaetsstrasse.jpg|thumb|right|The house in which Georg Forster lived during his time in [[Mainz]], with a commemorative plaque next to the door]]
However, by 1783 Forster saw that his involvement with the Rosicrucians not only led him away from real science, but also deeper into debt{{sfn|Saine|1972|p=33}} (it is said he was not good at money{{sfn|Thomas|Berghof|2000|p=xx}}); for these reasons Forster was happy to accept a proposal by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth [[Commission of National Education]] and became Chair of Natural History at [[Vilnius University]] in 1784.{{sfn|Reintjes|1953|p=50}} Initially, he was accepted well in [[Vilnius]], but he felt more and more isolated with time. Most of his contacts were still with scientists in Germany; especially notable is his dispute with [[Immanuel Kant]] about the definition of [[race (classification of human beings)|race]].{{sfn|Saine|1972|pp=43–48}} In 1785, Forster traveled to [[University of Halle|Halle]] where he submitted his thesis on the plants of the South Pacific for a doctorate in medicine.<ref name="OnTheContinent">{{cite book |last1=Aulie |first1=Richard P. |author-link=Richard P. Aulie |date=1999 |title=The Voyages of Captain James Cook |chapter-url=http://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/on-the-continent |publisher=Captain Cook Study Unit |access-date=14 May 2015 |chapter=On the Continent}}</ref> Back in Vilnius, Forster's ambitions to build a real natural history scientific centre could not get appropriate financial support from the authorities in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Moreover, his famous speech on natural history in 1785 went almost unnoticed and was not printed until 1843. These events led to high tensions between him and the local community.<ref name="Bodi">{{cite book|last=Bodi|first=Leslie|chapter=Georg Forster: The "Pacific Expert" of eighteenth-century Germany|title=Literatur, Politik, Identität – Literature, Politics, Cultural Identity|pages=29, 54|publisher=Röhrig Universitätsverlag|year=2002|isbn=3-86110-332-X}}</ref> Eventually, he broke the contract six years short of its completion as [[Catherine II of Russia]] had offered him a place on a journey around the world (the [[Mulovsky expedition]]) for a high honorarium and a position as a professor in [[Saint Petersburg]].<ref name="King">{{cite journal|last=King|first=Robert J.|year=2008|title=The Mulovsky expedition and Catherine II's North Pacific empire|journal=Australian Slavonic and East European Studies|volume=21|issue=1/2|pages=101–126|url=http://miskinhill.com.au/journals/asees/21:1-2/mulovsky-expedition|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091025062759/http://miskinhill.com.au/journals/asees/21:1-2/mulovsky-expedition|archive-date=25 October 2009}}</ref> This resulted in a conflict between Forster and the influential Polish scientist [[Jędrzej Śniadecki]]. However, the Russian proposal was withdrawn and Forster left Vilnius. He then settled in [[Mainz]], where he became head librarian of the [[University of Mainz]], a position held previously by his friend [[Johannes von Müller]], who made sure Forster would succeed him when Müller moved to the administration of [[Prince-elector|Elector]] [[Friedrich Karl Josef von Erthal]].{{sfn|Saine|1972|p=59}}

Forster regularly published essays on contemporary explorations and continued to be a very prolific translator; for instance, he wrote about Cook's third journey to the South Pacific, and about the [[Mutiny on the Bounty|''Bounty'']] expedition, as well as translating Cook's and [[William Bligh|Bligh]]'s diaries from these journeys into German.<ref>{{cite journal|last=King|first=Robert J.|title=The Call of the South Seas: Georg Forster and the expeditions to the Pacific of Lapérouse, Mulovsky and Malaspina|journal=Georg-Forster-Studien|volume=XIII|year=2008}}</ref> From his London years, Forster was in contact with Sir [[Joseph Banks]], the initiator of the Bounty expedition and a participant in Cook's first journey. While at the University of Vilnius he wrote the article "Neuholland und die brittische Colonie in Botany-Bay", published in the ''Allgemeines historisches Taschenbuch'' (Berlin, December 1786), an essay on the future prospects of the English colony founded in [[New South Wales]] in 1788.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Neuholland und die brittische Colonie in Botany-Bay|last = Sprengel|first = Matthias Christian|publisher = Australasian Hydrographic Society|year = 2008|url = http://www.australiaonthemap.org.au/content/view/47/59/|orig-year = 1787|trans-title = New Holland and the British Colony at Botany Bay|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080719062302/http://www.australiaonthemap.org.au/content/view/47/59/|archive-date = 19 July 2008|chapter = German text (Google Books)|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MvM9AAAAcAAJ&q=Taschenbuch+1787+Forster&pg=PA11|others = Translated by Robert J. King}}</ref>

Another interest of his was [[indology]] – one of the main goals of his failed expedition to be financed by Catherine II had been to reach India. He translated the [[Sanskrit]] play ''[[Shakuntala]]'' using a [[Latin]] version provided by Sir [[William Jones (philologist)|William Jones]]; this strongly influenced [[Johann Gottfried Herder]], and triggered German interest in the culture of India.{{sfn|Ackerknecht|1955|p=85}}

== ''Views from the Lower Rhine'' ==
[[File:Cathedral Arch.jpg|thumb|left|One of the entrances of [[Cologne Cathedral]], which was praised in ''Ansichten vom Niederrhein'']]
In the second quarter of 1790, Forster and the young [[Alexander von Humboldt]] started from Mainz on a long journey through the [[Southern Netherlands]], the [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces]], and England, eventually finishing in Paris. The impressions from the journey were described in a three volume publication ''Ansichten vom Niederrhein, von Brabant, Flandern, Holland, England und Frankreich im April, Mai und Juni 1790'' (''Views of the Lower Rhine, from Brabant, Flanders, Holland, England, and France in April, May and June 1790''), published 1791–94. Goethe said about the book: "One wants, after one has finished reading, to start it over, and wishes to travel with such a good and knowledgeable observer." The book includes comments on the [[history of art]] that were as influential for the discipline as ''A Voyage Round the world'' was for [[ethnology]]. Forster was, for example, one of the first writers who gave just treatment to the [[Gothic architecture]] of [[Cologne Cathedral]],{{sfn|Saine|1972|p=103}} which was widely perceived as "barbarian" at that time. The book conformed well to the early [[Romanticism|Romantic]] intellectual movements in German-speaking Europe.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760–1850: A-L|last = Murray|first = Christopher John|publisher = Taylor & Francis|year = 2003|isbn = 978-1-57958-423-8|pages = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofro002unse_v8y9/page/365 365]|url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofro002unse_v8y9/page/365}}</ref>

Forster's main interest, however, was again focused on the social behavior of people, as 15 years earlier in the Pacific. The national uprisings in [[Flanders]] and [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]] and the [[French Revolution|revolution in France]] sparked his curiosity. The journey through these regions, together with the Netherlands and England, where citizens' freedoms were equally well developed, in the end helped him to resolve his own political opinions. From that time on he was to be a confident opponent of the [[ancien régime]]. With other German scholars, he welcomed the outbreak of the revolution as a clear consequence of the Enlightenment. As early as 30 July 1789, shortly after he heard about the [[Storming of the Bastille]], he wrote to his father-in-law, philologist [[Christian Gottlob Heyne]], that it was beautiful to see what philosophy had nurtured in people's minds and then had realized in the state. To educate people about their rights in this way, he wrote, was after all the surest way; the rest would then result as if by itself.<ref name="zeit">{{cite journal|last=Schweigard|first=Jörg|title=Freiheit oder Tod!|trans-title=Liberty or Death!|journal=[[Die Zeit]]|issue=29|year=2001|url=http://www.zeit.de/2001/29/200129_a-14_juli_xml|language=de|access-date=30 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050905224929/http://www.zeit.de/2001/29/200129_a-14_juli_xml|archive-date=5 September 2005|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Life as a revolutionary ==

=== Foundation of the Mainz Republic ===
[[File:Freiheitsbaum.jpg|thumb|right|A [[liberty pole]], a symbol of revolutionary France as used in the [[Republic of Mainz]]. Watercolor by [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]]]
The French revolutionary army under [[General Custine]] gained control over [[Mainz]] on 21 October 1792. Two days later, Forster joined others in establishing a [[Jacobin Club]] called "Freunde der Freiheit und Gleichheit" ("Friends of Freedom and Equality") in the [[Electoral Palace Mainz|Electoral Palace]]. From early 1793 he was actively involved in organizing the [[Mainz Republic]]. This first republic located on German soil was constituted on the principles of democracy, and encompassed areas on the left bank of the [[Rhine]] between [[Landau]] and [[Bingen am Rhein|Bingen]]. Forster became vice-president of the republic's temporary administration and a candidate in the elections to the local parliament, the {{lang|de|Rheinisch-Deutscher Nationalkonvent}} (''Rhenish-German National Convention''). From January to March 1793, he was an editor of {{lang|de|Die neue Mainzer Zeitung oder Der Volksfreund}} (''The new Mainz newspaper or The People's Friend''), a name chosen in reference to [[Jean-Paul Marat|Marat]]'s {{lang|fr|L'Ami du peuple}}.<ref>Harpprecht, ''Das Abenteuer der Freiheit'', p. 33</ref> In his first article he wrote:

{{blockquote|''Die Pressefreiheit herrscht endlich innerhalb dieser Mauern, wo die Buchdruckerpresse erfunden ward.''<ref name="SZ">{{cite journal|last=Lepenies|first=Wolf|title=Freiheit, das Riesenkind|trans-title=Freedom, the giant child|journal=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]|date=May 17, 2010|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/aufmacher-xv-freiheit-das-riesenkind-1.423586|language=de|access-date=February 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708135125/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/aufmacher-xv-freiheit-das-riesenkind-1.423586|archive-date=July 8, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
{{blockquote|The [[freedom of the press]] finally reigns within these walls where the [[printing press]] was invented.}}

This freedom did not last long, though. The Mainz Republic existed only until the retreat of the French troops in July 1793 after the [[Siege of Mainz (1793)|siege of Mainz]].

Forster was not present in Mainz during the siege. As representatives of the Mainz National Convention, he and [[Adam Lux]] had been sent to Paris to apply for Mainz – which was unable to exist as an independent state – to become a part of the [[French First Republic|French Republic]]. The application was accepted, but had no effect, since Mainz was conquered by Prussian and Austrian troops, and the old order was restored.<ref name="WHKMLA">{{cite web|url=http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/germany/mainzrep.html|title=The Mainz Republic|publisher=World History at KMLA (WHKLMA)|access-date=22 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202218/http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/germany/mainzrep.html|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Forster lost his library and collections and decided to remain in Paris.<ref name="nie">{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Forster, Georg|year=1906}}</ref>

=== Death in revolutionary Paris ===
[[File:James Gillray Pinnacle of Liberty.jpeg|thumb|"The Pinnacle of Liberty", a satire by [[James Gillray]]]]

Based on a decree by Emperor [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II]] inflicting punishments on German subjects who collaborated with the French revolutionary government, Forster was declared an outlaw and placed under the [[Imperial ban]]; a prize of 100 ducats was set on his head and he could not return to Germany.{{sfn|Saine|1972|p=154}} Devoid of all means of making a living and without his wife, who had stayed in Mainz with their children and her later husband [[Ludwig Ferdinand Huber]], he remained in Paris. At this point the revolution in Paris had entered the [[Reign of Terror]] introduced by the [[Committee of Public Safety]] under the rule of [[Maximilien Robespierre]]. Forster had the opportunity to experience the difference between the promises of the revolution of happiness for all and its cruel practice. In contrast to many other German supporters of the revolution, like for instance [[Friedrich Schiller]], Forster did not turn back from his revolutionary ideals under the pressure of the terror. He viewed the events in France as a force of nature that could not be slowed and that had to release its own energies to avoid being even more destructive.{{sfn|Saine|1972|p=152}}

Before the reign of terror reached its climax, Forster died after a rheumatic illness{{sfn|Reintjes|1953|p=136}} in his small attic apartment at Rue des Moulins<ref name="hr">{{cite AV media|url=http://www.hr-online.de/servlet/de.blueorange.xred.util.GetFile/04-165.rtf?db=hrmysql&tbl=int_xredfile&key=id&keyval=11787328&imgcol=xred_file|medium=radio script (RTF)|last=Schell|first=Christa|title=Die Revolution ist ein Orkan|trans-title=The Revolution is a Hurricane|date=26 November 2004|access-date=12 April 2012|language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001051325/http://www.hr-online.de/servlet/de.blueorange.xred.util.GetFile/04-165.rtf?db=hrmysql&tbl=int_xredfile&key=id&keyval=11787328&imgcol=xred_file|archive-date=1 October 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> in Paris on 10 January 1794,{{sfn|Saine|1972|p=154}} at the age of thirty-nine. At the time, he was making plans to visit India.<ref name=nie />

== Views on nations and their culture ==
Forster had partial Scottish roots and was born in Polish [[Royal Prussia]], and therefore was by birth a Polish subject. He worked in Russia, England, Poland and in several German countries of his time. Finally, he finished his life in France. He worked in different milieus and traveled a lot from his youth on. It was his view that this, together with his scientific upbringing based on the principles of the Enlightenment, gave him a wide perspective on different ethnic and national communities:

[[File:Forsterundsohn.jpg|right|thumb|Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster, by [[John Francis Rigaud]], London 1780.<ref name="npg">{{Cite web |url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2009.55/portrait-of-dr-johann-reinhold-forster-and-his-son-george-forster/ |title=Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster, c. 1780 |website=National Portrait Gallery|publisher = portrait.gov.au |access-date=}}</ref> The plant in the brim of the hat is a ''[[Forstera|Forstera sedifolia]]'' and the bird in Johann Forster's hand a [[New Zealand bellbird]], locating the scene in New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VIirDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 |title=Johann Reinhold Forster and the Making of Natural History on Cook's Second Voyage, 1772–1775 |last=Mariss |first=Anne |date=9 September 2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4985-5615-6 |language=en|page=166}}</ref> However, the painting has been commonly called "Reinhold and George Forster at Tahiti" or similar.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIk8x6lsusQC |title=The Life of Captain James Cook |last=Beaglehole |first=J. C. |author-link=John Beaglehole|date=1 April 1992 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-2009-0 |language=en|page=viii}}</ref>]]

{{blockquote|All peoples of the earth have equal claims to my good will&nbsp;... and my praise and blame are independent of national prejudice.<ref>{{cite book|last=Forster|first=Johann Georg|title=Georg Forsters Werke, Sämtliche Schriften, Tagebücher, Briefe|trans-title=Georg Forster's works, all writings, diaries, letters|publisher=Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin|editor-first1=Gerhard|editor-last1=Steiner|year=1958|volume=II|pages=13–14|language=de}}</ref>}}

In his opinion all human beings have the same abilities with regard to reason, feelings and imagination, but these basic ingredients are used in different ways and in different environments, which gives rise to different cultures and civilizations. According to him it is obvious that the culture on [[Tierra del Fuego]] is at a lower level of development than European culture, but he also admits that the conditions of life there are much more difficult and this gives people very little chance to develop a higher culture. Based on these opinions he was classified as one of the main examples of 18th-century German [[cosmopolitanism]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kleingeld |first=Pauline |title=Six Varieties of Cosmopolitanism in Late Eighteenth-Century Germany |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |date=1999 |volume=60 |issue=3 |page=515 |issn=0022-5037 |url=http://www.filosofie.leidenuniv.nl/content_docs/publicaties/Kleingeld/six_varieties_of_cosmopolitanism.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228091212/http://www.filosofie.leidenuniv.nl/content_docs/publicaties/Kleingeld/six_varieties_of_cosmopolitanism.pdf |archive-date=28 February 2008 |doi=10.1353/jhi.1999.0025 |hdl=1887/8607 |s2cid=59415888 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

In contrast to the attitude expressed in these writings and to his Enlightenment background, he used insulting terms expressing prejudice against Poles in his private letters during his stay in Vilnius and in a diary from the journey through Poland,<ref>{{cite book|last=Lawaty|first=Andreas|contribution="Polnische Wirtschaft" und "deutsche Ordnung": Nachbarbilder und ihr Eigenleben|title=Der Fremde, Interdisziplinäre Beiträge zu Aspekten von Fremdheit|trans-title=The Stranger, Interdisciplinary Contributions to Aspects of Foreignness|editor-first1=Bernhard|editor-last1=Oestreich|publisher=Peter Lang Verlag|year=2003|pages=156–166|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Krause|first=Hans-Thomas|contribution=Georg Forster und Polen|title=Georg Forster (1754–1794). Ein Leben für den wissenschaftlichen und politischen Fortschritt|trans-title=Georg Forster (1754–1794). A Life of Scientific and Political Progress|series=Wissenschaftliche Beiträge der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg|year=1981|pages=79–85|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/902/223books.html|title=Books and Periodicals Received: "Czarna legenda Polski: Obraz Polski i Polaków w Prusach 1772–1815"|access-date=1 September 2005|journal=The Sarmatian Review|volume=XXII|issue=3|date=September 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050920052622/http://www.ruf.rice.edu/%7Esarmatia/902/223books.html|archive-date=20 September 2005|url-status=live}}</ref> but he never published any manifestation of this attitude.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bömelburg|first=Hans-Jürgen|title=Georg Forster und das negative deutsche Polenbild. Ein Kosmopolit als Architekt von nationalen Feindbildern?|trans-title=Georg Forster and the negative German image of Poland. A cosmopolitan as an architect of national bogeymen?|journal=Mainzer Geschichtsblätter|volume=8|year=1993|pages=79–90|language=de}}</ref> These insults only became known after his death, when his private correspondence and diaries were released to the public. Since Forster's published descriptions of other nations were seen as impartial scientific observations, Forster's disparaging description of Poland in his letters and diaries was often taken at face value in Imperial and Nazi Germany, where it was used as a means of science-based support for a purported German superiority.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Michael|last1=Burleigh|first2=Wolfgang|last2=Wippermann|title=The Racial State: Germany 1933–1945|url=https://archive.org/details/racialstate00mich|url-access=registration|year=1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-39802-9|page=26}}</ref> The spreading of the ''"Polnische Wirtschaft"'' (Polish economy) stereotype<ref>{{cite book|last=Orłowski|first=Hubert|year=1996|title="Polnische Wirtschaft": Zum deutschen Polendiskurs der Neuzeit|series=Studien der Forschungsstelle Ostmitteleuropa an der Universität Dortmund|volume=21|isbn=3-447-03877-2|language=de}}</ref><ref name="Salmonowicz" /> is most likely due to the influence of his letters.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stasiewski|first=Bernhard|title="Polnische Wirtschaft" und Johann Georg Forster, eine wortgeschichtliche Studie|trans-title="Polish economy" and Johann Georg Forster, a word historical study|journal=Deutsche Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift im Wartheland|volume=2|year=1941|issue=3/4|pages=207–216|language=de}}</ref><ref name="Salmonowicz">{{cite journal|last=Salmonowicz|first=Stanisław|title=Jerzy Forster a narodziny stereotypu Polaka w Niemczech XVIII/XIX wieku|journal=Zapiski Historyczne|volume=52|year=1987|issue=4|pages=135–147|language=pl}}<br />*{{cite journal|first=Stanisław|last=Salmonowicz|title=Georg Forster und sein Polenbild: Kosmopolitismus und nationales Stereotyp|trans-title=Georg Forster and his image of Poland: cosmopolitanism and national stereotype|journal=Medizenhistorisches Journal|volume=23|issue=3–4|year=1988|pages=277–290|language=de}}</ref>

Forster's attitude brought him into conflict with the people of the different nations he encountered and made him welcome nowhere, as he was too revolutionary and antinational for Germans,<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Craig|first=Gordon A.|title=Engagement and Neutrality in Germany: The Case of Georg Forster, 1754–94|journal=Journal of Modern History|volume=41|issue=1|date=March 1969|pages=2–16|doi=10.1086/240344|s2cid=143853614}}</ref> proud and opposing in his dealings with Englishmen,<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Allan|last1=Arlidge|title=Cook As A Commander – Cook and His Supernumeraries|journal=Cook's Log|page=5|volume=28|number=1|year=2005|url=http://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/cook-as-a-commander-cook-and-his-supernumeraries|publisher=Captain Cook Society|access-date=14 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923200519/http://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/cook-as-a-commander-cook-and-his-supernumeraries|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> too unconcerned about Polish science for Poles,<ref name="Salmonowicz" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Grębecka|first=Wanda|title=Stanisław Bonifacy Jundziłł (1761–1847)|series=Wybitni Polacy na Ziemi Lidzkiej|oclc=749967908|year=2003|language=pl}}</ref> and too insignificant politically and ignored while in France.<ref name=":0" />

== Legacy ==
After Forster's death, his works were mostly forgotten, except in professional circles. This was partly due to his involvement in the French revolution. However, his reception changed with the politics of the times, with different periods focusing on different parts of his work. In the period of rising nationalism after the Napoleonic era he was regarded in Germany as a "traitor to his country", overshadowing his work as an author and scientist. This attitude rose even though the philosopher [[Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel]] wrote about Forster at the beginning of the 19th century:

{{blockquote|Among all those authors of prose who are justified in laying claim to a place in the ranks of German classics, none breathes the spirit of free progress more than Georg Forster.<ref name="Schlegel">Schlegel, Friedrich. ''Kritische Schriften'', ed. W. Rasch, 2nd ed., Munich: Hanser 1964, translated by T. Saine in the preface to ''Georg Forster''</ref>}}

Some interest in Forster's life and revolutionary actions was revived in the context of the liberal sentiments leading up to the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states|1848 revolution]].{{sfn|Saine|1972|pp=14–15}} But he was largely forgotten in the Germany of [[Wilhelm II of Germany|Wilhelm II]] and more so in [[Nazi Germany]],<ref name="hr" /> where interest in Forster was limited to his stance on Poland from his private letters. Interest in Forster resumed in the 1960s in [[East Germany]], where he was interpreted as a champion of [[class struggle]].<ref name="wurzner">{{cite book|last=Würzner|first=M. H.|chapter=The Effect of the French Revolution in Germany: Christoph Martin Wieland and Georg Forster|title=Tropes of Revolution: Writers' Reactions to Real and Imagined Revolutions 1789–1989|editor-first1=Cedric Charles|editor-last1=Barfoot|editor-first2=Theo|editor-last2=D'haen|publisher=Rodopi |year=1991|isbn=90-5183-292-3}}</ref> The [[Schirmacher Oasis#Georg Forster Station|GDR research station]] in Antarctica that was opened on 25 October 1987, was named after him.<ref name="polarpost">{{cite journal|url=http://www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/1/1/2009/essd-1-1-2009.html|doi=10.5194/essd-1-1-2009|title=Compilation of ozonesonde profiles from the Antarctic Georg-Forster-Station from 1985 to 1992|first1=Gert|last1=König-Langlo|first2=Hartwig|last2=Gernandt|journal=Earth System Science Data|date=12 January 2009|volume=1|issue= 1|issn= 1866-3516 |oclc=277823257|publisher=Copernicus GmbH|pages=1–5|bibcode=2009ESSD....1....1K|access-date=12 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512215149/http://www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/1/1/2009/essd-1-1-2009.html|archive-date=12 May 2014|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> In [[West Germany]], the search for democratic traditions in German history also led to a more diversified picture of him in the 1970s. The Alexander von Humboldt foundation named a scholarship program for foreign scholars from developing countries after him.<ref name= "avh">{{Cite web|url = https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/apply/sponsorship-programmes/georg-forster-research-fellowship|title = Georg Forster Research Fellowship |access-date = |publisher = [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]]|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230512035411/https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/apply/sponsorship-programmes/georg-forster-research-fellowship |archive-date =12 May 2023|url-status = live}}</ref> His reputation as one of the first and most outstanding German ethnologists is indisputable, and his works are seen as crucial in the development of ethnology in Germany into a separate branch of science.<ref name="Bast">{{cite web|first1=Bianca |last1= Bast |title=Georg Forster – Die Wiederentdeckung eines Genies|trans-title=Georg Forster – The Rediscovery of a Genius|url=http://www.uni-protokolle.de/nachrichten/id/61496/ |language=de |publisher=uni-protokolle.de|date=31 July 2000|access-date=29 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050514185855/http://www.uni-protokolle.de/nachrichten/id/61496/|archive-date=14 May 2005|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ethnographical items collected by Georg and Johann Reinhold Forster are now presented as the ''Cook-Forster-Sammlung'' (Cook–Forster Collection) in the [[Sammlung für Völkerkunde]] anthropological collection in [[Göttingen]].<ref name="goettingen">{{cite web|first1=Frank|last1=Witzel|first2=Andreas|last2=Riechel|url=http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/sh/28899.html|title=Ethnographical Collection of the University of Göttingen|publisher=Uni-goettingen.de|access-date=21 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518210640/http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/sh/28899.html|archive-date=18 May 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Another collection of items collected by the Forsters is on display at the [[Pitt Rivers Museum]] in Oxford.<ref name="oxford">{{cite journal|last1=Coote|first1=Jeremy|last2=Gathercole|first2=Peter|last3=Meister|first3=Nicolette|url=http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/forster/curios-sent.html|title='Curiosities sent to Oxford': The Original Documentation of the Forster Collection at the Pitt Rivers Museum|journal=Journal of the History of Collections|volume=XII|issue=2|year=2000|pages=177–192|doi=10.1093/jhc/12.2.177|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508202353/http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/forster/curios-sent.html|archive-date=8 May 2015|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Works ==
*''[[A Voyage Round the World|A Voyage Round the World in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop Resolution, Commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the Years, 1772, 3, 4, and 5]]'' (1777) [[Internet Archive]] scans: [https://archive.org/details/b30413849_0001/page/n9/mode/2up Vol. I] and [https://archive.org/details/b30413849_0002/page/n7/mode/2up II]; modern publication with commentary: [https://books.google.com/books?id=w5PE4ociU0IC&q=georg+forster+voyage+round+the+world (preview)]
*''[[Characteres generum plantarum|Characteres generum plantarum, quas in Itinere ad Insulas Maris Australis, Collegerunt, Descripserunt, Delinearunt, annis MDCCLXXII-MDCCLXXV Joannes Reinoldus Forster et Georgius Forster]]'' (1775/76), [https://archive.org/details/mobot31753002810437 archive.org]
*''De Plantis Esculentis Insularum Oceani Australis Commentatio Botanica'' (1786) available online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34914 Project Gutenberg]
*''Florulae Insularum Australium Prodromus '' (1786) available online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36186 Project Gutenberg] and Biodiversity Heritage Library (DOI:10.5962/bhl.title.10725) [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/10725]
*''Essays on moral and natural geography, natural history and philosophy'' (1789–97)
*''Views of the Lower Rhine, Brabant, Flanders'' (three volumes, 1791–94)
*'' Georg Forsters Werke, Sämtliche Schriften, Tagebücher, Briefe'', Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, G. Steiner et al. Berlin: Akademie 1958
*''Werke in vier Bänden'', Gerhard Steiner (editor). Leipzig: Insel 1965. ASIN: B00307GDQ0
*''Reise um die Welt'', Gerhard Steiner (editor). Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1983. {{ISBN|3-458-32457-7}}
*''Ansichten vom Niederrhein'', Gerhard Steiner (editor). Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1989. {{ISBN|3-458-32836-X}}
*''Georg Forster, Briefe an Ernst Friedrich Hector Falcke. Neu aufgefundene Forsteriana aus der Gold- und Rosenkreuzerzeit'', Michael Ewert, Hermann Schüttler (editors). Georg-Forster-Studien Beiheft 4. Kassel: Kassel University Press 2009. {{ISBN|978-3-89958-485-1}}

{{botanist|G.Forst.|Forster, Georg}}

== See also ==
*[[:Category:Taxa named by Georg Forster]]
* [[European and American voyages of scientific exploration]]
* [[List of important publications in anthropology]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=nb}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources ===
*{{cite journal|last=Ackerknecht|first=Erwin H.|title=George Forster, Alexander von Humboldt, and Ethnology|journal=[[Isis (journal)|Isis]]|volume=46|issue=2|date=June 1955|publisher=University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society|pages=83–95|jstor=227120|doi=10.1086/348401|pmid=13242231|s2cid=26981757}}
*{{cite book |last1=Aulie |first1=Richard P. |author-link=Richard P. Aulie |date=1999 |title=The Voyages of Captain James Cook |chapter-url=http://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/the-forsters-at-home |publisher=Captain Cook Study Unit |access-date=14 May 2015 |chapter=The Forsters at Home |ref={{sfnRef|Aulie|1999a}} }}
*{{cite book |last=Daum |first=Andreas|author-link=Andreas Daum |editor-last=Berghoff |editor-first=Hartmut |title=Explorations and Entanglements: Germans in Pacific Worlds from the Early Modern Period to World War I |publisher=Berghahn Books |date=2019 |pages=79–102 |chapter=German Naturalists in the Pacific around 1800: Entanglement, Autonomy, and a Transnational Culture of Expertise |ref={{sfnRef|Daum|2019a}} }}
*{{cite book | last=Daum | first=Andreas|author-link=Andreas Daum | year=2019 | title=Alexander von Humboldt | location=Munich | publisher=C. H. Beck |pages=19–21, 43 | isbn=978-3-406-73436-6 |ref={{sfnRef|Daum|2019b}} }}
*{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j20gAQAAIAAJ |title=Georg Forster: ein Leben in Scherben |last=Enzensberger |first=Ulrich |date=1996 |publisher=Eichborn |isbn=978-3-8218-4139-7 |language=de}}
*{{Cite book |last=Forster |first=Johann Reinhold |title=The "Resolution" journal of Johann Reinhold Forster, 1772–1775 Vol. 2 |date=1982 |publisher=Hakluyt Society |isbn=978-0-904180-10-7 |oclc=58633015|editor-last=Hoare|editor-first=Michael E.}}
*{{Cite thesis |last=Gordon |first=Joseph Stuart |title=Reinhold and Georg Forster in England, 1766–1780 |date=1975 |publisher=Duke University |oclc=732713365 |place=Ann Arbor |language=English}}
*{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hcYLAQAAIAAJ&q=%2522Cook+told+his%2522 |title=The Tactless Philosopher: Johann Reinhold Forster (1729–98) |last=Hoare |first=Michael Edward |date=1976 |publisher=Hawthorne Press |isbn=978-0-7256-0121-8 |language=en}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Rosove |first=Michael H. |year=2015 |title=The folio issues of the Forsters' Characteres Generum Plantarum (1775 and 1776): a census of copies |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/polar-record/article/abs/folio-issues-of-the-forsters-characteres-generum-plantarum-1775-and-1776-a-census-of-copies/31B125C55EA7ED14D748363A73BF8B76 |journal=Polar Record |language=en |volume=51 |issue=6 |pages=611–623 |doi=10.1017/S0032247414000722 |bibcode=2015PoRec..51..611R |s2cid=129922206 |issn=0032-2474|url-access=subscription }}
*{{cite book |author-link1=Thomas P. Saine|last1=Saine |first1=Thomas P. |date=1972 |title=Georg Forster |url=https://archive.org/details/georgforster00sain|url-access=registration|location=New York, NY |publisher=Twayne Publishers |isbn=0-8057-2316-1}}
*{{cite book |first1=Alexander|last1=Smith |title=Explorers of the Amazon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3VP8usYq7XEC&pg=PA218 |year= 1990 |isbn= 0-226-76337-4 |publisher= University of Chicago Press }}
*{{Cite book |last=Steiner |first=Gerhard |url=https://archive.org/details/georgforster0000stei |title=Georg Forster |date=1977 |publisher=J.B. Metzler |isbn=978-3-476-10156-3 |location=Stuttgart |language=German |oclc=462099778}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Strehlke |first=F. |date=1861 |title=Georg Forster's Geburtsort |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J9sXAAAAYAAJ |journal=Neue Preußische Provinzialblätter |series=3 Folge |volume=8 |pages=189–212}}
*{{cite book |others=Forster, Georg|title=A Voyage Round the World|editor-first1=Nicholas|editor-last1=Thomas |editor-first2=Oliver|editor-last2=Berghof |year=2000 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |jstor=j.ctvvn739|isbn=0-8248-2091-6|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvvn739}}
*{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/georgforsterlebe0000uhli |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/georgforsterlebe0000uhli/page/107 107] |title=Georg Forster: Lebensabenteuer eines gelehrten Weltbürgers (1754–1794) |last=Uhlig |first=Ludwig |date=2004 |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |isbn=978-3-525-36731-5  |language=de}}
*Jovanović, Lazar, (2020). [http://www.berose.fr/article1807.html "The Cosmopolitan Circumnavigator of the South Seas: A Biography of Georg Forster"], in ''BEROSE – International Encyclopaedia of the Histories of Anthropology'', Paris.
*{{cite book |last1=Reintjes|first1=Heinrich|date=1953|title=Weltreise nach Deutschland|location=Düsseldorf|publisher=Progress-Verlag|language=de}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{EB1911 poster|Forster, Johann Georg Adam|Georg Forster}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150518105404/http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/forster/ The Forster Collection at the Pitt Rivers Museum]
* [http://www.georg-forster-gesellschaft.de/ Georg Forster society in Kassel] {{in lang|de}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061021045441/http://www.royalsoc.co.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=ImageView.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqImage=EC_1776_22.jpg Letter] recommending Georg Forster to the [[Royal Society]] (archived link, 21 October 2006)
* [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/forster-johann-georg-adam-2056 Biography] at the [[Australian Dictionary of Biography]]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=37318}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Georg Forster}}
* {{Librivox author |id=310}}
* Resources related to research : [http://www.berose.fr/ BEROSE – International Encyclopaedia of the Histories of Anthropology]. [http://www.berose.fr/rubrique782.html "Forster, Georg (1754–1794)"], Paris, 2020. (ISSN 2648-2770)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Georg}}
[[Category:1754 births]]
[[Category:1794 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century German explorers]]
[[Category:18th-century German botanists]]
[[Category:18th-century German writers]]
[[Category:18th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:18th-century German zoologists]]
[[Category:Botanists active in the Pacific]]
[[Category:Botanists with author abbreviations]]
[[Category:Enlightenment scientists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:German entomologists]]
[[Category:German librarians]]
[[Category:German male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:German mycologists]]
[[Category:German ornithologists]]
[[Category:German people from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
[[Category:German people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:German revolutionaries]]
[[Category:German taxonomists]]
[[Category:German travel writers]]
[[Category:Participants in James Cook's voyages]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz]]
[[Category:Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]]
[[Category:People from Gdańsk County]]
[[Category:People from Royal Prussia]]
[[Category:People of the French Revolution]]
[[Category:German pteridologists]]
[[Category:Saint Peter's School (Saint Petersburg) alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Vilnius University]]
[[Category:18th-century German naturalists]]