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Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (October 23, 1813 - 1848?) was a Prussian explorer and naturalist of Sorb descent. He was born in Trebatsch, Prussia (now Brandenburg, Germany).
Leichhardt studied between 1831 and 1836 philosophy, languages and natural
sciences at the Universities of Berlin and Göttingen
but never received a university degree. Moved to England in 1837. He educated himself in natural sciences at various places, including the
British Museum, London and the Jardin des Plantes, Paris and undertook field studies in several European countries including France, Italy and Switzerland.
In 1842 Leichhardt moved to Sydney, Australia where he led three major expeditions.
The first started on October 1, 1844 from Jimbour on the
Darling River and ended after a nearly 4800 km overland journey in Port Essington on December 17, 1845. The "Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia, from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a Distance of Upwards of 3000 Miles, During the Years 1844-1845" by Leichhardt describes this expedition.
The second expedition, starting in December 1846 was supposed to lead him
from the Darling Downs to the West coast of Australia and ultimately to the
Swan River and Perth. After covering only 800 km the expedition team was forced to return in June 1847 due to heavy rain, malarial fever and famine. After recovering, Leichhardt spent 6 weeks in 1847 to examine the course of the Condamine River and the country between the route of another expedition led by Mitchell in 1846 and his own route, covering nearly 1000
km.
In March 1848 he again set out from the Condamine River to reach the Swan
River. He was last seen on April 3, 1848 at McPherson's Station, Coogoon on the Darling Downs. His disappearance after moving inland, although investigated by many, remains a mystery.
The Inner Western Sydney suburb of Leichhardt is named for him.
References
- Erdos, Renee (1967). Leichhardt, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig. In: Pike, Douglas (Ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography Volume 2: 1788-1850 I-Z, pp. 102–104. Melbourne University Press.
- Serle, Percival (1949). Dictionary of Australian Biography (http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/00-dict-biogIndex.html) Volume II, pp. 28-30 (http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogL.html#leichhardt1). Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
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