Gmelin, Samuel Gottlieb

Born July 23, 1745, in Tübingen; died July 27, 1774. A traveler; nephew of J. G. Gmelin.

Invited to St. Petersburg in 1767, Gmelin became an academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences that same year. During 1768-74 he traveled on an assignment for the academy through the Don basin, the lower reaches of the Volga, the Caucasus, and the shores of the Caspian Sea. He was taken prisoner in Dagestan, where he died. His A Journey Through Russia to Research the Three Kingdoms of Nature (parts 1-3, in four books, 1771-85) contains valuable information on nature; new species of animals are described, including the wild tarpan (Equus gmelini).