Carl Gustaf Mannerheim (naturalist)


Count Carl Gustaf Mannerheim was a Finnish entomologist and governor of the Viipuri province in the Grand Duchy of Finland.

Career

From 1819 he served as the secretary to the Finnish Minister Secretary of State in Saint Petersburg. In 1833 he was appointed governor of the Vaasa Province and soon after of Viipuri and Savonlinna County. From 1839 until his death he served as the chief judge of the newly formed Imperial Court of Appeals in Vyborg.

Scientific contributions

Mannerheim devoted much of his time to natural sciences and acquired a significant scientific collection of Coleoptera. He published many papers concerning them and worked on the collections of the natural history museums of Dorpat, Saint-Petersburg and Moscow. He contributed greatly to the knowledge of the coleopteran fauna of western North America.

Societies and organizations

Mannerheim was a member of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences and of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was decorated with the Cross of the Order of Saint Stanislaus and was made a knight of the Order of Saint Vladimir.

Personal life

He was the son of Vendla Sofia von Willebrand and Count Carl Erik Mannerheim, the first vice-chairman of the finance ministry of the senate, now equivalent to being the Prime Minister of Finland.
Mannerheim was married to Eva Wilhelmina von Schantz; they had a son Carl Robert Mannerheim, who was an aristocrat and businessman. Carl Robert's son Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim became Marshal and President of Finland.

Gallery

Publications