Gustav Nachtigal

Gustav Nachtigal (German: [ˈɡʊstaf ˈnaxtɪɡal]; born 23 February 1834 – 20 April 1885) was a German military surgeon and explorer of Central and West Africa. He is also known as the German Empire's consul-general for Tunisia and Commissioner for West Africa. His mission as commissioner resulted in Togoland and Kamerun becoming the first colonies of a German colonial empire.

Early life and education

Gustav Nachtigal, the son of a Lutheran pastor and his wife, was born on 23 February 1834 at Eichstedt in the Prussian province of Saxony-Anhalt. His father died of Phthisis pulmonum (pulmonary tuberculosis) in 1839, when the boy was five.

After early education, Nachtigal studied medicine at the universities of Halle, Würzburg, and Greifswald.

Career and travels

Nachtigal practised for several years as a military surgeon. He worked in Cologne, Germany. Nachtigal contracted a lung disease and relocated to Annaba in Algeria in October, 1862. He travelled to Tunis in 1863, where he studied Arabic. He later took part as surgeon in several expeditions into Central Africa between 1869 and 1875.

He returned to Germany and met Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs. Rohlfs asked him to go to the Bornu Empire. He was commissioned by King Wilhelm I of Prussia to carry gifts to Umar Kura, ruler of the Bornu Empire, in acknowledgment of kindness shown to German travellers, such as Heinrich Barth.

Nachtigal set out in 1869 from Ottoman Tripoli and accomplished his mission after a two years' journey. During this period, he visited Tibesti and Borku, regions of the central Sahara not previously known to Europeans, and reached the region of the Toubou people. He travelled with eight camels and six men.