Background
Ernst Haeckel was born on 16 February 1834, in Potsdam.
Ernst Haeckel: Christmas of 1860 (age 26)
Haeckel (left) with Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai, his assistant, in the Canaries, 1866
biologist naturalist philosopher physician professor
Ernst Haeckel was born on 16 February 1834, in Potsdam.
In 1852, Haeckel completed studies at the Domgymnasium, the cathedral high school of Merseburg. He then studied medicine in Berlin and Würzburg, particularly with Albert von Kölliker, Franz Leydig, Rudolf Virchow and with the anatomist-physiologist Johannes Peter Müller (1801-1858).
In 1857, Haeckel attained a doctorate in medicine, and afterwards he received the license to practice medicine.
Haeckel studied under Karl Gegenbaur for three years, earning a habilitation in comparative anatomy in 1861, before becoming a professor of zoology at the University of Jena, where he remained for 47 years, from 1862 to 1909.
Between 1859 and 1866, Haeckel worked on many phyla such radiolarians, poriferans (sponges) and annelids (segmented worms). During a trip to the Mediterranean, Haeckel named nearly 150 new species of radiolarians. His professional reputation was established in 1862, following a voyage to Messina, with the publication of a monograph on the Radiolaria. He had by this time come under the influence of Darwinism and in this treatise expresses his admiration for the Darwinian theories.
From 1866 to 1867, Haeckel made an extended journey to the Canary Islands with Hermann Fol and during this period, met with Charles Darwin, in 1866 at Down House in Kent, Thomas Huxley and Charles Lyell.
In 1869, he traveled as a researcher to Norway, in 1871 to Croatia and in 1873 to Egypt, Turkey, and to Greece. Haeckel retired from teaching in 1909, and in 1910 he withdrew from the Evangelical Church of Prussia.
Haeckel's political beliefs were influenced by his affinity for the German Romantic movement coupled with his acceptance of a form of Lamarckism.
In 1906, Haeckel founded a group called the Monist League (Deutscher Monistenbund) to promote his religious and political beliefs. This group lasted until 1933 and included such notable members as Wilhelm Ostwald, Georg von Arco, Helene Stöcker and Walter Arthur Berendsohn.
In 1867, he married Agnes Huschke. Their son Walter was born in 1868, their daughters Elizabeth in 1871 and Emma in 1873.
Haeckel's wife, Agnes, died in 1915, and Haeckel became substantially frailer, with a broken leg (thigh) and broken arm. Haeckel died on 9 August 1919.