Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire or Adalbert Emil Walter Le Tanneux von Saint Paul-Illaire (born 1860; died 1940) was a German colonial official in East Africa. He hailed from the noble family of Le Tanneux von Saint Paul, which had moved to Prussia in the 17th century. [1] The genus Saintpaulia of the African violet was named in his honour after he discovered it in the Usambara Mountains and had sent its seeds in 1893 to Hermann Wendland, the German botanist and Chief Royal gardener at the Herrenhausen Gardens in Hanover, who gave the plant its first description, calling it the Usambara veilchen ('Usambara violet'). [2] [3]
Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire, was born on January 12, 1860, in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia. He was the son of the naval officer and member of the Reichstag, Ulrich von Saint Paul-Illaire (1833-1902), [4] was promoted to lieutenant in the Prussian army. His father was very interested in trees, especially firs, and corresponded with George Engelmann, the Missouri physician and botanist, about his wish to introduce and exploit the economic potential of Abies Engelmannii (Picea Engelmannii), or the Engelmann spruce. [5] [6] It is highly likely that Walter, his son, inherited his passion for botany.
In 1885 Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire joined the private German East Africa Company. In January 1886 he took part in an expedition to what is now Kenya for the society. [7] He then became director of customs and, in 1889, general agent of the German East Africa Company in Zanzibar. In 1891 the German Reich took over the administration of German East Africa and Saint Paul-Illaire became a district official in Tanga. He was district officer there from 1891 to 1900. [8] It was during this time that he noticed a plant while walking among the rocks near Tanga, and among the nearby Usambara Mountains. He called it a violet because of its blue flowers. The species name, ionantha, is derived from the Greek, 'ίον', for violet, and 'άνθος', which means flower. [9] Nowadays the plant is included within the genus Streptocarpus, as Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia [10]
In his colonial role, he was active in the labour issues of the colony of German East Africa [11] and also argued for the exclusion of Indians from the colony because of their near monopoly of trade with the Africans. [12] Saint Paul-Illaire was on the colonial staff of the Cologne daily newspaper, Kölnische Zeitung, the founder and head of the East Africa company, and founding member of the colonial branch of the German Agricultural Society. In 1896 he published a dictionary of Swahili in 1896, as listed below in his publications. After the First World War, he addressed the American and British delegates at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) asking for restitution of the German colonies, writing under the pseudonym of 'Africanus'. [13] [14] He also wrote for scientific publications.
From 1912, Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire became a member of the Berlin Masonic Lodge, Zum Widder. He died in Berlin in 1940 and was buried in the Invalids' Cemetery (German: Invalidenfriedhof), but his grave has not been preserved.[ citation needed ] The African violet he "discovered" only became popular as a houseplant after his death.[ citation needed ]
German East Africa was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozambique. GEA's area was 994,996 km2 (384,170 sq mi), which was nearly three times the area of present-day Germany and almost double the area of metropolitan Germany at the time.
Carl Peters was a German explorer and colonial administrator. He was a major promoter of the establishment of the German colony of East Africa and one of the founders of the German East Africa Company. He was a controversial figure in Germany for his views and his brutal treatment of native Africans, which ultimately led to his dismissal from government service in 1897.
Chief Mkwavinyika Munyigumba Mwamuyinga, more commonly known as Chief Mkwawa or Sultan Mkwawa, was a Hehe tribal leader in German East Africa, based in Kalenga, Iringa region, who opposed the German colonization. The name "Mkwawa" is derived from Mukwava, a shortened form of Mukwavinyika, meaning "conqueror of many lands".
The Abushiri Revolt, also known as the Slave Trader Revolt, but generally referred to by modern historians as the Coastal Rebellion, was an insurrection in 1888–1889 by the Arab, Swahili and African population of the coast of what is now Tanzania. This coast had been leased, under protest, to Germany by the Sultan of Zanzibar in 1888. The rebellion was eventually suppressed by a German expeditionary force commanded by Hermann Wissmann.
The Society for German Colonization was founded on 28 March 1884 in Berlin by Carl Peters. Its goal was to accumulate capital for the acquisition of German colonial territories in overseas countries.
Streptocarpus is an Afrotropical genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. The genus is native to Afromontane biotopes from central, eastern and southern Africa, including Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. The flowers are five-petalled, salverform tubes, almost orchid-like in appearance, and hover or arch over the plant, while the pointed, elongate fruit is of a helical form similar to that of the "tusk" of a narwhal. In the wild, species can be found growing on shaded rocky hillsides or cliffs, on the ground, in rock crevices, and almost anywhere the seed can germinate and grow. For the home, there are now many hybrids of various colours and forms available.
Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia is a section within Streptocarpus subgenus Streptocarpella consisting of about ten species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania and adjacent southeastern Kenya in eastern tropical Africa. The section was previously treated as a separate genus, Saintpaulia, but molecular phylogenetic studies showed that it was nested within the genus Streptocarpus.
The Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania in tropical East Africa, comprise the easternmost ranges of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The ranges of approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) long and about half that wide, are situated in the Lushoto District of the Tanga Region. They were formed nearly two million years ago by faulting and uplifting, and are composed of Precambrian metamorphic rocks. They are split into two sub-ranges; the West Usambaras being higher than the East Usambaras, which are nearer the coast and receive more rainfall.
Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen was a German explorer, colonial administrator, and military officer who served as Reichskommissar of German East Africa. He came to Rwanda in 1894 becoming the second European to enter the territory, since Oscar Baumann’s brief expedition in 1892, and later, he became the first European to cross the entire territory of Rwanda.
Oscar Baumann was an Austrian explorer, cartographer and ethnographer.
Friedrich Wilhelm Conrad Eduard Bornhardt was a German geologist, engineer and explorer, and was Director of the Berlin College of Mines (Bergakademie) from 1907 to 1916.
Matschie's dwarf gecko, also known commonly as Conradt's dwarf gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is native to East Africa. There are no valid subspecies.
Josef Brunnthaler was an Austrian botanist, known for his work in the field of phycology.
Heinrich Albert Schnee was a German lawyer, colonial civil servant, politician, writer, and association official. He served as the last Governor of German East Africa.
Bayume Mohamed Husen was an Afro-German soldier, actor and victim of Nazi persecution.
Carl Ludwig Gustav Uhlig was a German geographer and meteorologist. He was the son of philologist Gustav Uhlig (1838–1914).
Mohrenstraße is a street in central Berlin. It runs from west to east between Wilhelmstraße and Hausvogteiplatz, and partially forming the southern edge of Gendarmenmarkt. The Berlin U-Bahn station Mohrenstraße is located at its western end, and is served by the U2. A number of buildings in the street date to the mid-19th century (Gründerzeit) or were reconstructed after World War II, and are protected historic buildings.
Saintpauliopsis is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Acanthaceae. It only contains one known species, Saintpauliopsis lebruniiStaner
Richard Hindorf was a pioneering German colonial agricultural scientist and traveller. He worked predominantly in German East Africa
Albrecht von Rechenberg, Albrecht Freiherr von Rechenberg or Georg Albrecht Julius Heinrich Friedrich Carl Ferdinand Maria Freiherr von Rechenberg was a German jurist, diplomat and a politician who served as Governor of German East Africa and as a member of the Imperial Diet.