Adelbert von Chamisso

Also known as Louis Charles Adelaide de Chamisso. Eschscholtz was his fellow-naturalist (and close friend) around the Pacific — they each named species new to science after each other. Chamisso was at the Berlin dinner where Hoffmann was unmasked as the pseudonymous music critic Kreisler, and translated Schlegel into French, staying with him (and Madame de Staël) in Switzerland. Tieck was a correspondent, Heine appreciated his later poetry, and Andersen became a good friend, staying with him in Berlin — Chamisso helped popularise the Dane’s work in Germany. Although Robert Schumann famously set his words to music, it was after Chamisso’s death.