# Alexander Postels

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{{short description|Russian scientist and artist (1801–1871)}}
{{hatnote|not to be confused with the French writer [Alexandre Postel](/source/Alexandre_Postel)}}
[[File:Laminaria00.jpg|thumb|<div style="text-align: center;">'''''[Laminaria](/source/Laminaria) bongardiana'''''<br/>by Postels</div>]]

'''Alexander Filippovich Postels''' ({{langx|ru|Александр Филиппович Постельс}}; 24 August 1801 in [Dorpat](/source/Tartu) – 28 June 1871 in [Vyborg](/source/Vyborg)) was a Russian naturalist, mineralogist and artist of [Baltic German](/source/Baltic_German) descent.

==Career==
thumb|Voyage of the ''Senyavin''
Postels studied at [St.Petersburg Imperial University](/source/Saint_Petersburg_State_University) and in 1826 lectured there on [inorganic chemistry](/source/inorganic_chemistry).

In the 1820s political relations between [Russia](/source/Russia) and the United States were troubled by the extent of Russian territory in North America. Russia intended to enforce its claims by sending two warships to the disputed areas. When the two countries agreed on 54°40′N as the southern limit of Russian claims, Tsar [Nicolas I](/source/Nicholas_I_of_Russia) changed their orders in 1826 to an extended three-year survey of the Russian-American and Asian coasts.

[Otto von Kotzebue](/source/Otto_von_Kotzebue) had returned on 10 July 1826 from his voyage of discovery aboard ''Predpriyatiye''. On 16 August 1826, Captain Lieutenant [Fedor Petrovich Litke](/source/Fyodor_Petrovich_Litke), sailed on board the Russian vessel ''Senyavin'', accompanied by the ''Möller'' under Captain Lieutenant [M. N. Staniukovich](/source/Mikhail_Nikolaievich_Staniukovich). Postels sailed with Litke as a naturalist/artist and had the distinction of being the first St. Petersburg University graduate to join such a large-scale expedition. On board were also the naturalist [Karl Heinrich Mertens](/source/Karl_Heinrich_Mertens) (1796–1830), who died in Kronstadt shortly after his return from [Iceland](/source/Iceland) and another trip on the ''Senyavin'', and the ornithologist [Baron von Kittlitz](/source/Heinrich_von_Kittlitz).<ref>[Andreas W. Daum](/source/Andreas_W._Daum): ''German Naturalists in the Pacific around 1800: Entanglement, Autonomy, and a Transnational Culture of Expertise.'' In: ''Explorations and Entanglements: Germans in Pacific Worlds from the Early Modern Period to World War I'', ed. Hartmut Berghoff et al. New York, Berghahn Books, 2019, 70‒102, here pp. 87, 93, 95.</ref> Their orders were to:

{{blockquote|text=
reconnoitre and describe the coasts of [Kamchatka](/source/Kamchatka), the land of the [Chuchkis](/source/Chukchi_people) and the [Koriaks](/source/Koryaks) (the coasts of which have not yet been described by anyone, and which are unknown except by the voyage of Captain [Bering](/source/Vitus_Bering)); the coasts of the [Okhotsk Sea](/source/Okhotsk_Sea), and the [Shantar Islands](/source/Shantar_Islands), which although they are known to us, have not been sufficiently described.}}

The expedition sailed from [Kronstadt](/source/Kronstadt), the Russian port on [Kotlin Island](/source/Kotlin_Island), via [Portsmouth](/source/Portsmouth) and rounded [Cape Horn](/source/Cape_Horn) on 24 February 1827. The ''Senyavin'' called at [Concepcion](/source/Concepci%C3%B3n%2C_Chile) in [Chile](/source/Chile), before sailing north to [Sitka](/source/Sitka%2C_Alaska), and arriving at [Petropavlovsk](/source/Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky) in mid-September. They explored the [Caroline Islands](/source/Caroline_Islands) and the [Bonin-Jima group](/source/Bonin_Islands) for four months, returning to Kamchatka in May. During the summer they sailed from [Avacha Bay](/source/Avacha_Bay) to Karaginskii Island and on through the [Bering Strait](/source/Bering_Strait) to reconnoitre the coast as far north as the [Anadyr River](/source/Anadyr_River). They returned via [Manila](/source/Manila) and the [Cape of Good Hope](/source/Cape_of_Good_Hope), arriving back in [Kronstadt](/source/Kronstadt) on 16 September 1829.<ref>{{cite book|last=Paine|first=Lincoln P.|title=Ships of Discovery and Exploration|year=2000|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=0547561636|page=127}}</ref>

The expedition was called the largest and most productive voyage of discovery of the era,<ref>[http://sciweb.nybg.org/Science2/Onlinexhibits/exhbtcata.html Plants and Gardens Portrayed: Rare and Illustrated Books from The LuEsther T<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and brought back some 4 000 natural history specimens, including mammals, insects, birds, plants, and minerals. More than 1250 sketches of their findings were made on the voyage. Twelve island groups were discovered along the Asian coast, and 26  [Caroline Islands](/source/Caroline_Islands) were explored and described. The flattening of the Earth's poles was investigated using an [invariable pendulum](/source/invariable_pendulum). Postels was appointed assistant-professor of the Department of Mineralogy and Geology of St.Petersburg University. During the voyage Postels depicted more than 100 [seaweeds](/source/seaweeds) or marine algae from the northern Pacific in ''"Illustrationes algarum in itinere circa orbem jussu Imperatoriis Nicolai I"'' published in [St. Petersburg](/source/St._Petersburg) in 1840. The seaweed genus ''[Postelsia](/source/Postelsia)'' is named in his honour. This botanist is denoted by the [author abbreviation](/source/List_of_botanists_by_author_abbreviation) '''<span class="vcard"><span class="fn n"><span class="nickname">Postels</span></span></span>''' when [citing](/source/Author_citation_(botany)) a [botanical name](/source/botanical_name).<ref>{{cite book|last = Brummitt|first = R. K.|author2 = C. E. Powell|title = Authors of Plant Names |publisher = [Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew](/source/Royal_Botanic_Gardens%2C_Kew) |year = 1992 |isbn = 1-84246-085-4}}</ref>

Postels was elected an Honorary Member of the [Russian Academy of Sciences](/source/Russian_Academy_of_Sciences) on 14 January 1866 and invited to act as curator of the Mineralogical Museum. He tutored the Grand Duchesses Maria and [Ekaterina](/source/Grand_Duchess_Catherine_Mikhailovna_of_Russia), daughters of Tsar Nicolas I's brother [Mikhail](/source/Grand_Duke_Michael_Pavlovich_of_Russia), and was the tutor of [Prince Oldenburgski](/source/Duke_Peter_of_Oldenburg)'s children.<ref>[http://www.kunstkamera.ru/en/history/the_museum_and_its_directors/ KUNSTKAMERAThe Museum and its directors<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
{{Botanist|Postels|Postels}}

==See also==
* [European and American voyages of scientific exploration](/source/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite Efron|Постельс, Александр Филиппович}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Alexander Philipov Postels}}
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=kpMGlc-cvAoC&pg=PA128 Ships of Discovery and Exploration (Lincoln P. Paine)]
*[http://www.micsem.org/photos/europeans/16.htm Senyavin expedition images] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621092149/http://micsem.org/photos/europeans/16.htm |date=2010-06-21 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Postels, Alexander Philipov}}
Category:Botanists with author abbreviations
Category:Russian people of German descent
Category:Naturalists from the Russian Empire
Category:19th-century botanists from the Russian Empire
Category:Russian botanical illustrators
Category:Mineralogists from the Russian Empire
Category:1801 births
Category:1871 deaths
Category:Scientists from Tartu
Category:19th-century painters from the Russian Empire
Category:Privy Councillor (Russian Empire)
Category:19th-century illustrators from the Russian Empire

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alexander Postels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Postels) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Postels?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.