Amalie Dietrich
Encyclopedia
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
naturalist who was best known for her pioneering work in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where she spent 10 years collecting specimens for the Museum Godeffroy
Museum Godeffroy
The Museum Godeffroy was a museum in Hamburg, Germany, which existed from 1861 to 1885.The collection was founded by Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy, who became a wealthy shipping magnate a few years after the expansion of the his trade towards Australia and the South Seas. His expert collectors and...
in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.
Early life
Amalie Dietrich was born in Siebenlehn, SaxonySaxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
. In 1846, Amalie married Wilhelm August Salomo Dietrich, a doctor. Wilhelm taught Amalie about collecting and they planned careers working as naturalists, and, for a number of years, created collections in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Charitas, their only daughter, was born in 1848. In 1861, Amalie learned that her husband had been having an affair, and they separated. She later returned to him, and left again when she was 40 deciding to make a life for herself and her daughter.
Australia
She was employed as a naturalist by Johann Cesar VI. GodeffroyJohann Cesar VI. Godeffroy
Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy was a German trader and Hanseat.He was the founder of Museum Godeffroy.-Family history and the trading company J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn:...
(1818 - 1885), a wealthy shipping magnate who at the time was establishing the Museum Godeffroy
Museum Godeffroy
The Museum Godeffroy was a museum in Hamburg, Germany, which existed from 1861 to 1885.The collection was founded by Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy, who became a wealthy shipping magnate a few years after the expansion of the his trade towards Australia and the South Seas. His expert collectors and...
in Hamburg. She was the only female collector employed by Godeffroy and he sent her to Australia. Dietrich left her daughter in boarding school and travelled to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia, arriving on August 7, 1863.
Dietrich collected a wide range of natural specimens and artifacts created by Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. She is thought to have been the first European person to collect the deadly snake known as the taipan
Taipan
The taipans are a genus of large, fast, highly venomous Australasian snakes of the elapid family.-Overview:The taipan was named by Donald Thomson after the word used by the Wik-Mungkan Aboriginal people of central Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.There are three known species: the coastal...
for science, and her bird collection is thought to be the largest ever collected by a single person. Her collection of spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s formed the basis of the major reference work on Australian spiders. She travelled widely in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
collecting in Brisbane, Gladstone
Gladstone, Queensland
- Education :Gladstone has several primary schools, three high schools, and one university campus, Central Queensland University. It is also home to CQIT Gladstone Campus.- Recreation :...
, Rockhampton
Rockhampton, Queensland
Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
, Mackay
Mackay, Queensland
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
, Lake Elphinstone
Lake Elphinstone
Lake Elphinstone is a natural lake in Queensland. It is located about 92 kilometres west of Mackay, in Nebo Shire. The lake used to support the town of Elphinstone, however the town no longer exists, and the lake is a recreation area popular for bird-watching, fishing and camping....
and Bowen
Bowen, Queensland
Bowen is a town on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bowen had a population of 7,484.-Geography:Bowen is located on the north-east coast of Australia, at exactly twenty degrees south of the equator. In fact, the twentieth parallel crosses the main street...
. She returned to the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in 1872.
Godeffroy kept Dietrich's best specimens for his museum and sold others to museums in Europe. Naturalists in Europe were excited by her collections and named many species in her honour, including the wasp Nortonia amaliae and the tree Acacia dietrichiana. Her collections formed the basis of Zur Flora von Queensland by C. Luerssen. She never published anything in her name; however, her collections remain in museums in Europe to this day.