Kaspar Maria von Sternberg : biography
Kaspar Maria von Sternberg (also: Caspar Maria, Count Sternberg, , ), 1761, Prague – 1838, Březina Castle, was a Bohemian theologian, mineralogist, geognost, entomologist and botanist. He is known as the "Father of Paleobotany".
He established the Bohemian National Museum in Prague — his collection of minerals, fossils and plant specimens formed the core collection of the museum, Philately, Kaspar Maria von Sternberg (1761 – 1838) and he is deemed to be the founder of modern paleobotany. As of 1820 he was on friendly terms with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Originally a student of theology, he attended the Collegium anglicum in Rome, from where he obtained a lower ordination. Inspired by the newly founded Regensburg Botanical Society (1790), he became an avid naturalist, subsequently becoming a prominent member of the society, making contributions to its Botanisches Taschenbuch and also establishing a botanical garden in Regensburg. In 1805, during a extended stay in Paris, he met with Alexander von Humboldt and came under the influence of a number of French paleontologists and botanists. Afterwards, he relocated to an estate in Radnice, Bohemia. Here, he created a botanical garden, and conducted important paleobotanical research at recently opened coal mines located in the surrounding areas. @ Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
The botanical genus Sternbergia is named in his honor. Sternbergia lutea
Publications
- Abhandlung über die Pflanzenkunde in Böhmen (rwo volumes 1817-1818) – Treatise on the botany of Bohemia.
- Briefwechsel (1820-1832) – (Correspondence) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Kaspar von Sternberg. (publications) Bibliography
- (with August Karl Joseph Corda, 1820-1825; two volumes) – Attempt at a geognostic-botanical description of primordial flora. Versuch einer geognostisch-botanischen darstellung der flora der vorwelt
- , 1902 – Selected works of Count Kaspar von Sternberg.
- , 2010 – The life of Count Kaspar von Sternberg.
The standard botanical author abbreviation Sternb. is applied to species he described.