Ferdinand von Sommer: A Nineteenth-Century Polymath

Ferdinand von Sommer: A Nineteenth-Century Polymath

• Ferdinand von Sommer, Western Australia's first government geologist, was a complex figure.
• He achieved considerable accomplishments in surveying and mapping but also faced much criticism in the press.

Early Life and Education

• Born in the Netherlands around 1800.
• Studied mathematics at the University of Göttingen under Carl Friedrich Gauss.
• Graduated in 1822, though his mathematical work was deemed unsatisfactory by Gauss and peers.
• Served in the Dutch navy & worked as a writer, journalist, and university lecturer in Berlin.
• Became a doctor in 1838
• Travelled to India as a missionary, and briefly to Cape Town in 1840.
• Returned to Europe as "Frederic de Sommer," a Prussian naturalist, and attempted to sell art.

Von Sommer's Career in Australia

• Arrived in Adelaide in 1845 during the Burra copper boom.
• Became assayer, smelter, and superintendent at the Burra copper mine.
• His criticism of local mining methods led to dismissal.
• Worked as a doctor and faced much public criticism in South Australian newspapers after leaving the Burra mine.
• Successfully sued a newspaper editor for libel.

Government Geologist in Western Australia

• Became the first government geologist in Western Australia in 1847.
• Traveled extensively and produced several geological surveys reports.
• Remained a vocal critic of local mining methods.
• Faced further criticism in the press, labelled a "charlatan."
• Left Western Australia in 1848 for Dutch employ.

Later Life and Death

• Joined the Dutch government.
• Searched for copper deposits on Timor.
• Died in 1849 from an unknown illness.

The Ferdinand von Sommer Impostor

• A man impersonating von Sommer surfaced in German newspapers in the late 1850s.
• Purported to be a Dr. of Philosophy (though his credentials were dubious).
• Engaged in fraudulent activities, including swindling money.
• Imprisoned (three years) before escaping and continuing his ill-gotten gains.
• Ultimately, arrested in Frankfurt am Main.

Von Sommer's Legacy

• Some of his letters, maps and reports are archived in London.
• Demonstrates the difficulties of understanding reputations in the past.
• Recovered from historical records, reveals a complex personality with considerable achievements.