Georg Thomas von Asch, Russian Imperial Expansion, and Botanical – Zoological Research at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century.
Journal: Annals of the history and philosophy of biology
Year: 2025

This article studies the donations of botanical and zoological objects by the Russian physician Georg Thomas von Asch (1729–1807) to the University of Göttingen, his alma mater. It argues that these specimens made a valuable contribution to the research of several Göttinger professors, namely Johann Andreas Murray (1740–1791), Georg Franz Hoffmann (1760–1826), Heinrich Adolf Schrader (1767–1836), and Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840). The Baron von Asch’s generosity not only led to a much