Alexander von Humboldt (1806) The geographer, naturalist, and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was one Europe’s preeminent natural scientists. The picture below shows the young Humboldt in the Orinoco watershed of Venezuela, collecting, classifying, and preserving botanical specimens. Alexander von Humboldt was the younger brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835), a renowned philosopher, scholar, linguist, and politician, and the founder of the University of Berlin. Oil on canvas by Friedrich Georg Weitsch (1758-1828), 1806.