Johann Jacob Friedrich Wilhelm Parrot
| Friedrich Parrot | |
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Johann Jacob Friedrich Wilhelm Parrot. Portrait by Alexander Julius Klünder (1829)
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| Born |
14 October 1791 Karlsruhe, Margraviate of Baden |
| Died | 15 January 1841 (aged 49) Dorpat, Livonia Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Nationality | Russian Empire |
| Alma mater | University of Dorpat |
| Known for | First recorded ascent of Mount Ararat |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Natural history, Physics |
| Institutions | University of Dorpat |
Johann Jacob Friedrich Wilhelm Parrot (14 October 1791 – 15 January 1841) was a Baltic German naturalist, explorer, and mountaineer, who lived and worked in Dorpat (today Tartu, Estonia) in what was then the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. A pioneer of Russian and Estonian scientific mountaineering, he is best known for leading the first expedition to the summit of Mount Ararat in recorded history.
Born in Karlsruhe, in the Margraviate of Baden, Parrot was the son of Georg Friedrich Parrot, the first rector of the University of Dorpat (today the University of Tartu) and a close friend of Tsar Alexander I. He studied medicine and natural science at Dorpat and, in 1811, undertook an expedition to the Crimea and the Caucasus with Moritz von Engelhardt. There he used a barometer to measure the difference in sea level between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. On his return he was appointed assistant doctor and, in 1815, surgeon in the Imperial Russian Army. In 1816 and 1817, he visited the Alps and Pyrenees. In 1821, he was professor of physiology and pathology, then in 1826 professor of physics at the University of Dorpat.
After the Russo-Persian War of 1826–28, Mount Ararat came under Russian control by the terms of the Treaty of Turkmenchay. Parrot felt that the conditions were now right to reach the peak of the mountain. With a team of science and medical students, Parrot left Dorpat in April 1829 and traveled south to Russian Transcaucasia and Armenia to climb Ararat. The project received full approval from Tsar Nicholas I, who provided the expedition with a military escort.
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