| Birth Date: | 4 July 1795 |
| Birth Place: | Jelgava (German: Mitau), present-day Latvia |
| Death Place: | St. Petersburg, Russia |
| Citizenship: | Russian Empire |
| Nationality: | Baltic German |
| Fields: | Geology Medicine |
| Workplaces: | Kazan University, Vilnius University, St. Petersburg University |
| Known For: | Describing new reptile species |
| Author Abbrev Bot: | Eichw. |
Karl Eduard von Eichwald known as Karl Eichwald (Russian: Эдуард Иванович Эйхвальд, Eduard Ivanovich Eykhvald; 4 July 1795, in Mitau, Courland Governorate – 10 November 1876, in Saint Petersburg) was a Baltic German geologist, physician, and naturalist, who lived his whole life in the Russian Empire.
Eichwald was a Baltic German born at Mitau in Courland Governorate. He became a doctor of medicine and professor of zoology in Kazan in 1823; four years later professor of zoology and comparative anatomy at Vilnius; in 1838 professor of zoology, mineralogy and medicine at St. Petersburg; and finally, professor of palaeontology in the institute of mines in that city.
He travelled much in the Russian Empire, and was a keen observer of its natural history and geology. He died at St. Petersburg.
Eichwald was a supporter of Darwinism.[1]
His published works include Reise auf dem Caspischen Meere und in den Caucasus, 2 vols. (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1834-1838); Die Urwelt Russlands (St Petersburg, 1840-1845); Le Lethaea Rossica, ou Paléontologie de la Russie, 3 vols. (Stuttgart, 1852-1868), with Atlases.
In the scientific field of herpetology he described several new species of reptiles.[2]