Ernst Dieffenbach

Johann Karl Ernst Dieffenbach (1811 to 1855), also called Ernest Dieffenbach, was a German medical doctor, geologist and naturalist who became the first trained scientist to live and work in New Zealand. Born in Giessen, he studied at the University of Giessen, fled the Grand Duchy of Hesse after being accused of subversion, and took a medical degree at Zurich before being expelled in 1836 for politics and duelling. After settling in London in 1837 he gained a reputation through articles in medical and scientific journals, and sailed to New Zealand aboard the Tory as surgeon, surveyor and naturalist for the New Zealand Company. He travelled widely there, returned in 1841 to 1842, and published Travels in New Zealand in English in 1843. He corresponded with Charles Darwin, translated Darwin's Journal of Researches into German, and in 1850 became adjunct professor of geology at Giessen, where he remained until his death. The extinct Dieffenbach's rail of the Chatham Islands is named after him.