Karl Ernst Baer
| Karl Ernst von Baer | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
17 February 1792 Piep estate, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire |
| Died | 16 November 1876 (aged 84) Dorpat, Russian Empire |
| Citizenship | Russian Empire |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | Biology, embryology, geology, meteorology, geography |
| Institutions | Imperial University of Dorpat, University of Königsberg, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Geographical Society |
| Alma mater | Imperial University of Dorpat |
| Known for | The discovery of the mammal egg cell; exploring European Russia and Scandinavia |
Karl Ernst Ritter von Baer, Edler von Huthorn (Russian: Карл Эрнст фон Бэр; 28 February [O.S. 17 February] 1792 – 28 November [O.S. 16 November] 1876) was an Estonian scientist and explorer. Baer is also known in Russia as Karl Maksimovich Baer (Russian: Карл Макси́мович Бэр).
Baer was a naturalist, biologist, geologist, meteorologist, geographer, and a founding father of embryology. He was an explorer of European Russia and Scandinavia. He was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a co-founder of the Russian Geographical Society, and the first president of the Russian Entomological Society, making him a distinguished Baltic German scientist.
Karl Ernst von Baer was born into a Baltic German noble family in the Piep estate, Kreis Jerwen, Governorate of Estonia (in present-day Lääne-Viru County, Estonia), as a knight by birthright. He spent his early childhood at Lasila manor, Estonia. Many of his ancestors had come from Westphalia. He was educated at the Knight and Cathedral School in Reval (Tallinn) and the Imperial University of Dorpat (Tartu), each of which he found lacking in quality education. In 1812, during his tenure at the university, he was sent to Riga to aid the city after Napoleon's armies had laid siege to it. As he attempted to help the sick and wounded, he realized that his education at Dorpat had been inadequate, and upon his graduation, he notified his father that he would need to go abroad to "finish" his education. In his autobiography, his discontent with his education at Dorpat inspired him to write a lengthy appraisal of education in general, a summary that dominated the content of the book. After leaving Tartu, he continued his education in Berlin, Vienna, and Würzburg, where Ignaz Döllinger introduced him to the new field of embryology.
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