Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter

Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter (20 February 1809 – 24 January 1889) was a Baltic German botanist, specialising in the flora of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Life

He studied medicine and natural sciences at the University of Dorpat. From 1829 to 1831, he conducted botanical field trips throughout Livonia, returning to Jelgava in 1831 as a private instructor. In 1833, he began work as an assistant at the botanical garden in Dorpat, two years later, performing similar duties at the botanical garden in St. Petersburg. In 1838 he relocated to Kiev as a professor of botany and director of the botanical garden. During his many years in Kiev, he served as university rector from 1847 to 1859. Later in his career, he returned to the botanical garden in St. Petersburg as an administrator and director. Here, he was tasked with publishing an account of the garden's history.

Selected works Among his numerous writings were treatises on the genera Echinops and Trifolium.

The standard botanical author abbreviation Trautv. is applied to plants he described.