Troll, Carl (1899–1975)

Carl Troll was a German geographer who developed the concept of landscape ecology and made significant contributions to the study of high-mountain geography. He also served as president of the International Geographical Union from 1960 to 1964.

Troll was born in Bavaria, Germany, on December 24, 1899. He studied at the University of Munich, obtaining a doctorate in botany (1921) and another in geography (1925). Between 1926 and 1929, he undertook an extensive research journey through the Andes, during which he expanded on the concepts and research of his famous countryman, Alexander von Humboldt. His mountain studies were extended to Eastern and Southern Africa in the 1930s, and he was a member of the disastrous German expedition to Nanga Parbat in 1937. In 1930, he was ...