Alexander von Nordmann
Alexander von Nordmann was a Finnish biologist, who contributed to zoology, parasitology, botany and paleontology.
Biography
Nordmann was a son of an officer of the Russian army at the Ruotsinsalmi fortress, Old Finland. He started academic studies at the Imperial Academy of Turku, and at that time also acted as a curator of the entomological collections. In 1827 he continued studies in Berlin with the famous parasitologist and anatomist Karl Rudolphi. His first major work was a microscopical description of tens of parasitic worms and crustaceans from the eyes and other organs of fishes and other animals, including man. These included the enigmatic monogenean Diplozoon paradoxum.In 1832 he was appointed a professor at the Lyceum Richelieu in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, and in 1834 also the director of the Odessa Botanical Garden and the associated Central Gardening School. He participated in several expeditions and collected natural history specimens in southern Russia and adjacent regions. Later, in 1849, he became professor of Zoology and Botany at the Imperial Alexander University in Finland. He died of heart failure on 25 June 1866.