Title: Passionate about plants: Baron Ferdinand von Mueller (1825–1896)
Subject: The life and work of Baron von Mueller—how does a feminist historian write about ‘a great man of history’?
Born and educated in provincial Germany, Mueller migrated to Australia as a young man. As the first Government Botanist of Victoria and Director of the Melbourne Botanic Garden, he became famous internationally for his work as a botanist, explorer and patron of science.
photograph, Michelle Leber
‘The consensus of Mueller’s biographers is that he was married to his work, and sacrificed his private life to it.’
Maroske, 1997.
‘How swells my heart in youthful yearning, receptive to the glories of this earth; if it but could the world embrace in all its magical infinity!’
Mueller, 1843.