Welwitsch, Friedrich (1806-1872)

Welwitsch, Friedrich

BOTANIST, EXPLORER (AUSTRIAN EMPIRE)

BORN 5 Feb 1806, Maria Saal, Kärnten - DIED 20 Oct 1872, London
BIRTH NAME Welwitsch, Friedrich Martin Joseph
GRAVE LOCATION London: Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (016, Dissenter's Section (not far from Harrow Road entrance))

Friedrich Welwitsch was the son of Joseph Anton Welwitsch, a regional judge and a town councilor of Salzburg. His mother was Genovefa, born Mayr (d.1813), was German. His father wanted him to study law, but Friedrich studied medicine and botany in Vienna. He worked as a physician, but he was mostly interested in plants and left the medical profession in 1839. Aided by the Württembergischer Naturhistorischer Reiseverein, he left for Portugal where he became the director of the botanical gardens.

He conducted research on Madeira and from 1853 in the Portuguese colony Angola, where he met David Livingstone in 1854. In Angola he discovered the Welwitschia mirabilis in 1859 in the Namib desert. In 1861 he returned to Portugal. In 1863 he moved to London where working conditions were better. He worked at the Natural History Museum and at Kew Gardens. In 1869 he published "Sertum Angolense" in which he described many new species. In the same year he was elected a member of the Leopoldina.

He died in 1872 and left his collection to the Natural History Museum in London. This resulted in a lawsuit because the Portuguese government had financed his years in Angola. After three years a settlement was reached, and part of the collection went to Lisbon.

Related persons
• was a friend of Brown, Robert

Images

The grave of Friedrich Welwitsch at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.
Picture by Androom (28 May 2026)