Aleksandr Fedorovich Middendorf (1815–94)

Russian biogeographer. Taught zoology at Kiev University, 1839–40. Travelled to Kola Peninsula with Karl Ernst von Baer, 1839. Commissioned by the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences to travel in northern and eastern Siberia, 1843–4; published a description and analysis of his materials, 1848–75. Member of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences, 1845; permanent secretary, 1852–65. His Siberian journey led to the establishment of the Russian Geographical Society.