Kaspar Maria von Sternberg

Kaspar Maria von Sternberg
1838 painting of Sternberg by Alexander Clarot
Born	Kaspar Maria von Sternberg 1761 Prague
Died	1838 (aged 76–77) Březina Castle
Nationality	Czech
Other names	Sternb. (standard botanical author abbreviation for species he described)
Occupation	Theologian, mineralologist, geognosist, entomologist, botanist
Known for	Established Bohemian National Museum in Prague, considered founder of modern paleobotany

Kaspar Maria von Sternberg (also: Caspar Maria, Count Sternberg, German: Kaspar Maria Graf Sternberg, Czech: hrabě Kašpar Maria Šternberk), 1761, Prague – 1838, Březina Castle, was a Bohemian theologian, mineralogist, geognost, entomologist and botanist. He is known as the "Father of Paleobotany".

He established the Bohemian National Museum in Prague — his collection of minerals, fossils and plant specimens formed the core collection of the museum, and he is deemed to be the founder of modern paleobotany. As of 1820 he was on friendly terms with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Originally a student of theology, he attended the Collegium anglicum in Rome, from where he obtained a lower ordination. Inspired by the newly founded Regensburg Botanical Society (1790), he became an avid naturalist, subsequently becoming a prominent member of the society, making contributions to its Botanisches Taschenbuch and also establishing a botanical garden in Regensburg. In 1805, during an extended stay in Paris, he met with Alexander von Humboldt and came under the influence of a number of French paleontologists and botanists. Afterwards, he relocated to an estate in Radnice, Bohemia. Here, he created a botanical garden, and conducted important paleobotanical research at recently opened coal mines located in the surrounding areas.