| Kaspar Maria von Sternberg | |
| Birth Name: | Kaspar Maria von Sternberg |
| Birth Date: | 1761 |
| Birth Place: | Prague |
| Death Place: | Březina Castle |
| Nationality: | Czech |
| Other Names: | Sternb. (standard botanical author abbreviation for species he described) |
| Known For: | Established Bohemian National Museum in Prague, considered founder of modern paleobotany |
| Occupation: | Theologian, mineralogist, geognosist, entomologist, botanist |
Count Kaspar Maria von Sternberg (also: Caspar Maria, Count Sternberg, German: Kaspar Maria Graf Sternberg, Czech: hrabě Kašpar Maria Šternberk; 1761, Prague – 1838, Březina Castle) was a Bohemian theologian, mineralogist, geognost, entomologist and botanist. He is known as the "Father of Paleobotany".. His parents were Count Johann Nepomuk von Sternberg and Countess Anna Josefa Kolowrat-Krakowsky.
He established the Bohemian National Museum in Prague, where his collection of minerals, fossils and plant specimens formed the core collection,[1] and he is deemed to be the founder of modern paleobotany. As of 1820 he was on friendly terms with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Originally a student of theology, he attended the Collegium anglicum in Rome, from where he obtained a lower ordination. Inspired by the newly founded Regensburg Botanical Society (1790), he became an avid naturalist, subsequently becoming a prominent member of the society, making contributions to its Botanisches Taschenbuch and also establishing a botanical garden in Regensburg. In 1805, during an extended stay in Paris, he met with Alexander von Humboldt and came under the influence of a number of French paleontologists and botanists. Afterwards, he relocated to an estate in Radnice, Bohemia. Here, he created a botanical garden, and conducted important paleobotanical research at recently opened coal mines located in the surrounding areas.[1] [2]
The botanical genus Sternbergia is named in his honor.[3]
The standard botanical author abbreviation Sternb. is applied to species he described.