Georg Forster

Born in 1754, Georg Forster was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary thinker. As a teenager he joined his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on Captain James Cook’s second voyage around the world, a journey that gave him firsthand experience of the Pacific and launched his literary career.

After returning to Europe, he wrote A Voyage Round the World (1777), a lively and observant book that brought him wide attention. He also worked as a scholar and translator, and his writings combined science, travel, and reflections on the people and places he encountered.

In his later years, Forster became involved in the political upheavals of the French Revolution era, supporting republican ideas in Mainz. He died in Paris in 1794, still only 39 years old, but his travel writing and broad, humane curiosity left a lasting mark on European intellectual life.