Biography of Fritz Müller: a naturalista in southern Brazil

Abstract

Johann Friedrich Theodor Müller, later known simply as Fritz Müller, was born in Thuringia (Germany) in 1822. Raised in a religious household, in an environment that had valued science and culture since the Middle Ages, his family included outstanding researchers and scientists. Whilst studying at the German universities of Berlin and Greifswald, Fritz Müller became a critic of the political and religious system of his time, actively participating in the People’s Spring event of 1848 in Europe. This political engagement ruled out many job opportunities for him, and his dismay at this prompted him to emigrate. In Brazil in 1852, in Santa Catarina in fact, Fritz Muller arrived as an immigrant settler. He divided his time between the hoe and the microscope, dedicating himself to extensive research, which focussed on the flora and fauna of the Atlantic Forest, sharing his findings with other European scientists. The most prominent of these scientists, Charles Darwin, nicknamed him the “Prince of Observers” in recognition of his significant work in validating Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. In Florianopolis, the capital city of the province, he worked as a schoolteacher from 1857 to 1867, and there he left a legacy of fifty qualified students who went on to become intellectuals, politicians, journalists and writers.