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Birth
He was born in Berlin, Germany. His one sibling was Wilhelm Von Humboldt. His parents were Alexander Georg Von Humboldt and Maria Elizabeth Colomb. -
Mothers death
When his mother died he was working at a mining department. After her death he resigned because he was entitled to a large amount of wealth. He then went on an expedition (paid out of pocket) with botanist Aimé Bonpland. They traveled to Marseille and then to Madrid. -
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Expedition
Humboldt and Bonpland got permission from the Spanish Government to visit the Spanish colonies in Central and South America. They started from Caracas and traveled south until they reached the banks of the Apure. They continued on the Orinoco River by canoe. With that they proved the Casiquiare River formed a connection between the river systems of the Amazon and the Orinoco. After a stay in Cuba they returned to South America to explore the Andes -
Spring 1803
They sailed from Guayaquil to Acapulco, Mexico. There they spent the last year of their expedition in a study of this highly civilized part of the Spanish colonies. After a short stay in the United States, Humboldt and Bonpland sailed for France. -
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Life in Paris
Humboldt dedicated these years of his life to publication of the data collected in South America. He lived in Paris during this time with brief visits to Berlin. Here he found collaborators, engravers for his maps and drawings and publishers. He wrote 30 books on the scientific data found. It was meteorological data, studies on the relationship between geography and plants growing. He wrote on the geography and geology of Mexico, along with the social and economic conditions and the population. -
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Later Years
Humboldt had to return to Berlin for financial reasons. He was a tutor to the Crown Prince up until a couple years before his death. In 1829 he visited Russia and Siberia to advise the government about mining that lasted a summer. Once a year he visited Paris. Before Russia he returned to South America to investigate a change in Earth's geomagnetic field. He died on May 6, 1859 at the age of 89.