| Wilhelm Peters | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 22, 1815 Koldenbüttel |
| Died | April 20, 1883 (age 67) |
| Nationality | German |
| Known for | Explorer, Zoologist |
| Spouse | None |
Wilhelm Karl Hartwich (or Hartwig) Peters (April 22, 1815 in Koldenbüttel - April 20, 1883) was a German naturalist and explorer.
He was assistant to Johannes Peter Müller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. In September 1842 he travelled to Mozambique via Angola. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens. He wrote Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique... in den Jahren 1842 bis 1848 ausgeführt (1852-82). He replaced Martin Lichtenstein as curator of the museum in 1858, and in the same year he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In a few years time he greatly increased the Berlin Museum's herpetological collection to a size comparable to those of Paris and London.[1]