Langsdorff, Georg Heinrich von (1774-1852)
Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff was a German-Russian physician, who took part in Russia’s first circumnavigation of the globe from 1803 to 1807. Prior to this, he travelled to Portugal as part of the entourage of Prince Christian of Waldeck and practiced there as a doctor from 1797 to 1802. During this period, he learned Spanish and Portuguese. From 1813 to 1818 Langsdorff was consul general of Russia in Rio de Janeiro and took part in a major Russian expedition through Brazil from 1822 to 1829. He studied the country’s geography, flora and fauna and conducted ethnographic research.

Material:

• 4 boxes: photocopies, photographs and films of previously published materials on Langsdorff’s trips to Brazil, the diplomatic ties between Russia and Brazil in the 19th century and the major Russian expedition in South America.
• 60 microfilms
• over 100 microfiches

Provenance: The documents were left to the Ibero-American Institute (IAI) of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation by the Russian Langsdorff specialist Boris N. Komissarov. The material is mostly in Russian and comes from archives and libraries in Russia.

Keywords: Brazil, travelogues