Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804 - 1865) was a German born explorer and diplomat. In 1828 he went to the United States where he became a partner in a tobacco factory in Virginia but lost all his possessions in a fire. He then went to the island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean where again he lost his possessions in a fire.
Schomburgk then gave up commercial ventures and went to Anegada, one of the British Virgin Islands, and carried out a survey on his own initiative. This so impressed the Royal Geographical Society of London that in 1835 it sent him to explore British Guiana*. He spent four years there and, among other things, discovered the giant water lily (Victoria regia) and many orchids one of which was known as the Schomburgkia orchid.
In 1841 he returned to Guiana and, joined by his brother Richard, played an important role in fixing the borders with Venezuela and Brazil. However the former boundary is still in dispute today with the Essequibo area being very rich in oil and while controlled by Guiana is claimed by Venezuela. Richard Schomburgk later became the Director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens from 1865 to 1891.
After a number of diplomatic postings for Great Britain, including to the Dominican Republic and Siam, Robert Schomburgk retired in 1864 and died in Berlin 11 March 1865.
* Guiana is now known as Guyana, capital Georgetown, which became independent of Great Britain in 1966. Located on the north coast of South America, Guyana is bordered by Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname. It has a current population of 741,300 (2024)
