Alfred Brehm

German zoologist, natural history illustrator and writer, whose father, Christian Ludwig Brehm, was a famous ornithologist.

On 31 May 1847 Brehm joined the African expedition organized by Johann Wilhelm von Müller, a well-known ornithologist. The expedition took him to Egypt, the Sudan, and the Sinai peninsula; the discoveries made were so important that, at the age of only 20, he was made a member of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina.

In 1856, After studying natural sciences at Jena, he went on a two-year journey to Spain with his brother Reinhold. Afterwards he settled down in Leipzig as a freelance writer and wrote many scientific popularizations for various magazines. Apart from this, he undertook an expedition to Norway and Lapland in 1860.

In May 1861 Brehm married his cousin with whom he had five children. Since he wanted to travel, in 1862 he accepted the invitation of Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to accompany him on a trip to Abyssinia. Afterwards, Brehm travelled to Africa as well as to Scandinavia and Siberia. His essays and expedition reports from the animal world were well received, because of this, he was commissioned by the editor of the Bibliographisches Institut, Herrmann Julius Meyer, to write a large multivolume work on the animal world.

Brehm's life was full with writing, scientific expeditions and lecture tours. Despite this, in 1862, he accepted the post of first director of the Zoological Garden of Hamburg and kept this position until 1867. Afterwards he went to Berlin, where he opened an aquarium. In the winter of 1883 to 1884 Brehm planned a lecture tour to the USA. Shortly before his departure, his four children contracted diphtheria. Since he could not afford to break his contract, Brehm, a widower since 1878, went ahead with his tour. At the end of January he received word of his youngest son's death.