1897 Postal Latvia Argentina Uruguay entomology Carlos Berg insect scientific

Item Specifics

Country

Latvia

Condition

Unused

Stamp Format

Single

Item Description

Exceptional scientific postal history item from 1897.
Sent from Argentina to Uruguay by Prof. Dr. Carlos Berg, eminent naturalist and director of the Buenos Aires Museum, to Dr. Rodolfo Amargós in Montevideo.

The postcard contains detailed entomological notes regarding Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles), specifically specimens of the genus Colaspis from both Berg’s and Amargós’s collections. The message shows how naturalists of the period exchanged determinations and identifications of insect species.

This Piece Combines:

Philatelic value: Properly circulated 19th-century postal stationery across Río de la Plata.
Scientific significance: Primary source of entomological correspondence between two renowned scholars.
Historical context: Testimony of academic exchange in South America at the end of the 19th century.
A remarkable postal document, suitable for thematic collections on science, natural history, entomology, and Open Class philately.

Bellow an short biography of Dr. Carlos Berg 

Carlos Berg (Latvian: Kārlis Bergs, German: Karl Berg) or Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Berg (Latvian: Frīdrihs Vilhelms Kārlis Bergs, German: Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Berg) (21 March 1843, Courland – 19 January 1902 Buenos Aires) was an Argentine naturalist and entomologist of Latvian and Baltic German origin.

Having worked a few years in trade, he moved to Riga in 1865 and became curator of the entomological department of the Riga Museum, and then at the Riga Technical University.

In 1873, he was invited by Hermann Burmeister (1807–1892), director of the Museum of Buenos Aires, to join him in Argentina. As early as 1874, Berg began an expedition to Patagonia to collect specimens for the museum. This first collecting trip was followed by others through Argentina, also in Chile and Uruguay.

Apart from a period of two years from 1890 to 1892, spent at the Museo Nacional in Montevideo, he was based in Buenos Aires. He replaced Burmeister as the head of the museum in 1892.

His first specialty was entomology, but he was also dedicated to paleontology and the study of vertebrates. Amongst his many other achievements, he described Cactoblastis cactorum, the cactus moth.

Berg was a fellow of the Entomological Society of London and a corresponding member of the Zoological Society of London.

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04/08/2016

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Item Location

Montevideo, Uruguay

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Worldwide

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