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((Short description|Baltic German geologist and paleontologist (1815–1891)))

((For|other members of Keyserling family|Keyserling))
((more citations needed|date=October 2016))
((More footnotes|date=January 2022))

((Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = '''[[Graf]]'''
| name              = Alexander von Keyserling
| image             = AlexanderGrafKeyserling.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Portrait taken by [[Georg Friedrich Schlater]], before 1870
| alt               = 
| birth_date        = ((OldStyleDate |27 August|1815|15))
| birth_place       = Kabillen Manor, Kabillen, [[Kreis Goldingen]], [[Courland Governorate]], Russian Empire<br />(now Kabile, [[Kuldīga Municipality]], [[Latvia]])
| death_date        = ((OldStyleDate|20 May|1891|8))
| death_place       = Rayküll Manor, [[Raikküla|Rayküll]], [[Kreis Harrien]], [[Governorate of Estonia]], [[Russian Empire]]<br />(now Raikküla, [[Rapla County]], [[Estonia]])
| resting_place             = 
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- ((Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title)) -->
| residence         = 
| citizenship       = [[Russian Empire]]<br />[[German Confederation]]<br />[[German Empire]]
| nationality       = [[Baltic German]]
| fields            = [[Geology]]<br/>[[Botany]]
| workplaces        = 
| alma_mater        = [[Humboldt University of Berlin]]
| thesis_title      = 
| thesis_url        = 
| thesis_year       = 
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = 
| author_abbrev_bot = Keyserl.
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
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| influenced        = 
| awards            = 
| signature         = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature_alt     = 
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| footnotes         = 
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))
[[File:Keyserlingk-Wappen.png|thumb|Coat of arms of the [[Uradel]] [[Keyserlingk|Keyserlingk family]] in the ''((interlanguage link|Adelslexikon|de|Adelsleikon))''.]]
[[File:Graf Keyserlingk BWB-2.png|thumb|Coat of arms of the [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] counts of the [[Keyserlingk|Keyserlingk family]], in the ((interlanguage link|Baltic coat of arms book|et|Baltisches Wappenbuch)) by ((interlanguage link|Carl Arvid Klingspor|de|Carl Arvid von Klinspor)) in 1882<ref name="Klingspor1882">((cite book|author=Carl Arvid von Klingspor|title=Baltisches Wappenbuch|url=https://personen.digitale-sammlungen.de/baltlex/Blatt_bsb00000445,00157.html?prozent=<!--|accessdate=11 May 2019-->|year=1882|publisher=Stockholm|isbn=978-0-543-98710-5|pages=157))</ref>]]

'''Alexander Friedrich Michael Lebrecht Nikolaus Arthur Graf<ref>((German title Graf))</ref> von Keyserling'''<ref>His full name was stated as Alexander Friedrich Michael Lebrecht Arthur Nicolaus James in the Curonian edition of the Baltic Knighthood book.</ref>((sfn|Stavenhagen|1930|pp=241)) (15 August 1815 – 8 May 1891) was a [[Baltic Germans|Baltic German]] [[geologist]] and [[paleontologist]] from the [[Keyserlingk]] family of [[Baltic German]] nobility.

==Career==
Alexander von Keyserling was born on ((OldStyleDate|27 August|1815|25)) at the [[Kabile Manor|Kabillen Manor]], ((interlanguage link|Kabile, Latvia|lt=Kabillen|lv|Kabile)), [[Courland Governorate]] (in present-day Kabile, [[Kuldīga Municipality]], [[Latvia]]), then part of the [[Russian Empire]]. His father was Count Heinrich Diedrich Wilhelm von Keyserling, 3rd Count of Rautenburg, was a spokesman, ((interlanguage link|Kreismarschall|de|Kreismarschall)) and ((interlanguage link|Landbotenmarschall|de|Landbotenmarschall)) in Courland, his mother was Baroness Anna Amalie Benigna ((interlanguage link|Nolde (noble family)|lt=von Nolde|ru|Нольде)). His family was of [[Westphalia]]n origin and was originated in [[Herford]], they were considered part of the ''[[Uradel]]'', or old nobility. The first ever mentioned member was Albert Keserlink (1443-1467 or 1468), the mayor of [[Herford]]. Alexander belonged to the ''House of [[Rautenburg]]-[[Tāšu Padure|Telsen-Paddern]]'',((sfn|Stavenhagen|1930|pp=139)) which was a subdivided branch of the Prussian comital branch.((sfn|Stavenhagen|1930|pp=138)) The branch's founder Dietrich II von Keyserling, Herr auf ((interlanguage link|Okte|lt=Okten|lv|Okte)) und ((interlanguage link|Līguti|lt=Ligutten|lv|Līguti)), was elevated to [[Graf|count]] in 1786.((sfn|Stavenhagen|1930|pp=121)) Dietrich's father Heinrich Christian also inherited the title of ''Count of Rautenburg'',((sfn|Stavenhagen|1930|pp=132)) although Alexander didn't inherit the title since he was the 10th child in the family, his elder brother Otto Ulrich Johann inherited the title.((sfn|Stavenhagen|1930|pp=140))

Alexander studied at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin]], here he met with future [[German Chancellor]] [[Otto von Bismarck]] and [[John Lothrop Motley]], with whom he became lifelong friends.

Alexander is considered to be one of the founders of Russian geology. He made many expeditions on behalf of [[Nicholas I of Russia]] in [[Estonia]], northern [[Russia]], and the [[Urals]] (1839-1846).<ref name=EDR/>

He was also a [[botanist]] and [[zoologist]] who wrote ''Die wirbelthiere Europa's'' (''[[Vertebrate]]s of Europe'') with [[Johann Heinrich Blasius]]. This work was published in 1840.<ref name="DWE"/>

Alexander's nephews include diplomat [[:de:Heinrich von Keyserlingk-Rautenburg|Heinrich von Keyserlingk]] and writer [[Eduard von Keyserling]]. [[:lv:Arhibalds fon Keizerlings|Archibald von Keyserling]], the first leader of the Latvian Navy, was his brother Eduard Ernst Hermann von Keyserling's grandson. Philosopher [[Hermann von Keyserling]] was his grandson.

==Evolution==
Keyserling was an advocate of the [[transmutation of species]]. In 1853, he wrote an article which suggested that species arose from the activity of "alien molecules" acting on the embryo. He believed that such molecules were transported by [[Miasma theory|miasma]].<ref name="Rogers 1973">Rogers, James Allen (1973). "The Reception of Darwin's Origin of Species by Russian Scientists". ''[[Isis (journal)|Isis]]'' '''64''' (4): 484-503.</ref> In the third edition of ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' published in 1861, [[Charles Darwin]] added a ''Historical Sketch'' that acknowledged the ideas of Keyserling.<ref name="Rogers 1973"/><ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/origin/preface.html Darwin C (1861). ''The Origin of Species'']. Preface to the Third Edition.</ref>

Darwin sent a copy of his book to Keyserling who was skeptical about the role of [[natural selection]] in evolution.<ref name="Rogers 1973"/> By 1886, however, he embraced most of Darwin's ideas claiming "I renounced my views which contradicted Darwin's theory, and I consider that the changes of the embryo arise not by means of external action of certain molecules but by the influence of selection and heredity."<ref name="Rogers 1973"/>

==Legacy==
Keyserling is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of gecko, ''[[Teratoscincus keyserlingii]]''.<ref name=EDR>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ((ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5)). ("Keyserling", p. 140).</ref>

((botanist|Keyserl.|Keyserling, Alexander Friedrich Michael Leberecht Arthur von))

==See also==
* [[List of Baltic Germans#Scientists|List of Baltic German scientists]]

==References==
((Reflist|refs=
<ref name="DWE">((cite web|author=Keyserling A, [[Johann Heinrich Blasius|Blasius JH]]|year=1840|title=''Die wirbelthiere Europa's''|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006128938|website=Hathi Trust Digital Library|location=Braunschweig|publisher=F. Vieweg und sohn|accessdate=15 August 2016))</ref>
))

== Sources ==
* ((cite book|first=Otto Magnus|last=von Stackelberg|title=Genealogische Handbuch der baltischen Ritterschaften. Teil Estland, Band I|url=https://personen.digitale-sammlungen.de/baltlex/Blatt_bsb00000601,00149.html<!--|accessdate=10 May 2019-->|date=1930|publisher=Starke Verlag, Görlitz|pages=140–144|language=de|ref=((sfnref|Stackelberg1930))))
* ((cite book|first=Oskar|last=Stavenhagen|title=Genealogische Handbuch der baltischen Ritterschaften. Teil Kurland, Band II|url=https://personen.digitale-sammlungen.de/baltlex/Blatt_bsb00000602,00133.html<!--|accessdate=10 May 2019-->|date=1930|publisher=Starke Verlag, Görlitz|pages=118–149)) (de)

((Authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Keyserling, Alexander))
[[Category:1815 births]]
[[Category:1891 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Kuldīga Municipality]]
[[Category:People from Courland Governorate]]
[[Category:Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Paleontologists from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Geologists from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century botanists from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Zoologists from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Explorers from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:German arachnologists]]
[[Category:Demidov Prize laureates]]
[[Category:Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Proto-evolutionary biologists]]
[[Category:19th-century German zoologists]]
[[Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni]]
[[Category:Russian scientists]]

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