Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg
Ehrenberg, Christian Gottfried
Born Apr. 19, 1795, in Delitzsch, near Leipzig; died June 27, 1876, in Berlin. German naturalist and zoologist. Member of the Leopoldina German Academy of Naturalists (1818) and the Academy of Sciences in Berlin (1826). Ehrenberg was educated at the University of Leipzig. From 1820 to 1826 he traveled throughout Egypt and along the Red Sea coast. Beginning in 1826, he was a professor at the University of Berlin. In 1829 he took part in A. von Humboldt’s expedition to Western Siberia.
Ehrenberg’s main works were devoted to protozoans, primarily infusorians. Ehrenberg studied the phosphorescence of the sea, induced by microorganisms, and established the role of microorganisms in the formation of sedimentary rocks.
Ehrenberg was a foreign corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences from 1829 and an honorary member from 1840.
WORKS
Naturgeschichtliche Reisen durch Nord-Africa und West-Asien in den Jahren 1820 bis 1825 . . ., vol. 1, part 1. Berlin, 1828.Die Infusionsthierchen als vollkommene Organismen. Leipzig, 1838.
Das Leuchten des Meeres. Berlin, 1835.
Über die Natur und Bildung der Coralleninseln und Corallenbänke in Rothen Meere. Berlin, 1834.