author

Friedrich Hornemann

1772–1800

Driven by curiosity and nerve, this young German explorer became one of the first modern Europeans to cross the northeastern Sahara. His short, perilous journey opened a rare window onto regions of North and Central Africa that were little known in Europe at the time.

1 Audiobook

The journal of Frederick Horneman's travels, from Cairo to Mourzouk, the capital of the kingdom of Fezzan, in Africa, in the years 1797-8

The journal of Frederick Horneman's travels, from Cairo to Mourzouk, the capital of the kingdom of Fezzan, in Africa, in the years 1797-8

by Friedrich Hornemann

About the author

Born in Hildesheim in September 1772, Friedrich Konrad Hornemann studied in Göttingen before offering his services to the African Association in London. He prepared for travel by learning Arabic and studying the region, then set out for North Africa in the late 1790s with the aim of reaching the interior.

Hornemann is best remembered for crossing the northeastern Sahara in 1798, traveling in disguise for safety and gathering notes on the land, trade routes, and people he encountered. His journal later gave European readers valuable information about areas that had been only loosely described in contemporary geography.

His career was remarkably brief. Sources agree that he died in West Africa in early 1801, while still pursuing the expedition that made his name. Even with such a short life, he remains an important figure in the history of African exploration.