Johann Karl Ehrenfried Kegel
Johann Karl Ehrenfried Kegel ( born October 3, 1784 in Rammelburg ( today part of Mansfeld ), † June 25, 1863 in Odessa ) was a German agronomist and researcher of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Johann Karl Ehrenfried Kegel received his education at the High cathedral school in Halberstadt and then studied at the Graduate School in Copenhagen. Inspired by his wife's uncle, the doctor and the Russian State Council Melchior Adam Merz (Saint Petersburg ), went bowling in the winter 1826/27 to Russia.
In 1841 he received from the Russian Ministry of Economic domain commissioned to explore the interior of Kamchatka and to examine the possibilities for agriculture and mining. After he had traversed Siberia, he embarked in Okhotsk and ended up shipwrecked in Kamchatka.
From Petropavlovsk he undertook several more months traveling inland. To explore the soil and make sample seeds, he did so in each case during the summer months, although this time of year the roads were barely passable and traveling grueling. In his reports, he describes not only the flora, fauna, soil and geology of the country, but also portrays the lives of the peoples of Kamchatka. He recognized the potential wealth of the country with good management and discovered mineral resources. He also made suggestions for improving the living conditions of the locals, their oppression and exploitation he denounced repeatedly.
When the corrupt administration that was not interested in the development of the country but to increase the value of the own wealth through fur trade, Cone was hated. They feared his incorruptibility and harassed him by whatever means possible. Nevertheless, he completed his work in 1847 and returned to serious health issues struck, repeatedly escaped death, to Saint Petersburg back. His reports, which are considered the most accurate of that time, could not be published in his lifetime, because that would have meant the loss of liberty or worse for him.
Johann Karl Ehrenfried Kegel died in 1863 in Odessa.