1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Humboldt, Friedrich Heinrich
Alexander von |←Humbert, Ranieri Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria
Fernando Eugenio||1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 13
Humboldt, Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von |Humboldt, Karl
Wilhelm von→| |See also Alexander von Humboldt on Wikipedia, and
our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer.| HUMBOLDT,
FRIEDRICH HEINRICH ALEXANDER, Baron von (1769-1859), German
naturalist and traveller, was born at Berlin, on the 14th of
September 1769. His father, who was a major in the Prussian
army, belonged to a Pomeranian family of consideration, and was
rewarded for his services during the Seven Years' War with the
post of royal chamberlain. He married in 1766 Maria Elizabeth
von Colomb, widow of Baron von Hollwede, and had by her two
sons, of whom the younger is the subject of this article. The
childhood of Alexander von Humboldt was not a promising one as
regards either health or intellect. His characteristic tastes,
however, soon displayed themselves; and from hi