A Brief Look at Sir Robert Schomburgk

Touted as one of the great explorers of his time, Robert Hermann Schombugk was born in Germany in 1804. He is widely known as a great explorer, scientist, and biologist. His studies in the realm of geography, ethnological and biological studies are world renowned. He grew up in a religious home and would study botany throughout his early years. He would embark on a journey through science in 1826 when he arrived in the United States and started work as a clerk in the burgeoning eastern United States.

Success did not come easy to Schomburgk, as he would lose much of livelihood in two separate fires. The first fire would set ablaze his tobacco manufacturing plant, completely ruining his business in Richmond, Virginia where he lived. If that weren't enough, he would be further ruined when a fire consumed all of his possessions while in St. Thomas. The two unrelated fires would ruin him professionally, and it would take him a great deal of time before he began to succeed again.

While exploring in the Atlantic Ocean, Schomburgk would become a well known name in the science community by exploring Anegada in 1835 on his own accord, and writing a report that would later land him a full position with the Royal Geographical Society that was based out of London at the time. He would set out to explore British Guiana, even though he didn't have any special training to do so. It was with this work that he started to find incredible things, such as new species of plants, and more. Among his great discoveries was a new species of Orchid, which he would have named after him. He would continue to explore through the late 1830s and through 1841 for the Society and would find great success.

He would be knighted by Queen Victoria due to his reports of all he would find in the explorations of Guiana, and that would lead him to get a full position later down the road as the official British consul to the Dominican Republic.

Perhaps amongst his greatest work, the explorer would land in the capital of British Guiana and would explore the area and discover one of the greatest remote areas in the world, a location known as Mount Roraima. His plan of reaching the summit would be thwarted, and he would even state that he wished he had wings, because he could not reach such heights.

The explorer would have a great deal of influence towards his latter years, but not without dealing with serious turmoil as a young man, which some historians claim would only prove to be a stepping stone for him along his course to become one of the better known explorers for Britain at the time. It was in 1857 that he would help with the geographical surveys of Siam, Thailand. He would eventually retire a few years later, and would be riddled with health problems. The legacy he leaves is quite fascinating, whether you're a botanist, historian, geography student, or curious reader.

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