The New York Times/1885/3/6/Gregory Helmersen

Gregory Helmersen

A dispatch from St. Petersburg announces the death of Gregory Helmersen, the celebrated Russian naturalist and traveler. He was born near Dorpat. Sept. 29, 1803, and began his studies in St. Petersburg. Subsequently, he studied at the Dorpat University, paying special attention to geology. He was a pupil of Maurice Engelhardt, whom he accompanied on a scientific tour on the banks of the Volga, in 1828. Two years later he entered the Government service as a mining engineer, and was placed in charge of a party to explore the southern portion of the Ural range. While in this position he published his "Geological Researches in the South of the Ural." Here also he became acquainted with Humboldt, upon whose advice he visited Western Europe. He spent several months at Heidelberg and Fribourg, then went to Northern Italy, and returned to Russia toward the end of 1833. He then resumed his duties in the Ural, and made an important excursion to the Altai Mountains. The following year he was sent by the Government to prospect the mines in the steppes of Russian Asia, and published his researches in "Documents for the Knowledge of the Russian Empire." The following year he was appointed Professor of Geology in the School of Mines, of St. Petersburg. He, however, continued to make numerous trips to the north and west of Russia, Sweden, and Norway. In 1865, he was promoted to the office of Director of the School of Mines, but retired in 1872. Most of his works were published in the Journal of the Academy and the Journal of Mines. He treated specially on the coal districts in a work entitled "The Brithplaces of Mineral Coal in Russia."