Possible origins of some character names

[mken...@aol.com]

Aventures de trois Russes: https://www.google.at/books/edition/An_Account_of_the_Measurement_of_Two_Sec/ne82AQAAMAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=palander+%22everest%22&pg=PA425&printsec=frontcover

There was a real Colonel Everest who measured meridians, plus a Monsieur Palander, and Professor Strüve may have been the inspiration for Strux.

I hope this isn’t old news. I found the source (that I have linked to) when I searched for newspaper printings of the novel (in German).

Martin Paz: https://viewer.onb.ac.at/103F89E6/62

A "Martin Paz Soldan" is mentioned as one of the authors of "Géographie du Pérou", but that seems to be a misprint from 1863.

1863 ed. is by Mateo Paz Soldan and Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan: https://books.google.at/books?id=quCweTKcpGYC&pg=PP11&hl=de&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false

But there’s still a chance that "Martin Paz" was derived from Mateo (and Mariano?) Paz. The work was mentioned in France as early as 1851, in the Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3210b/f253.image.r=%22mateo%20paz%20soldan%22?rk=21459;2

… so it’s very much possible that Verne knew it. And maybe used it as a source for the story… if it was available in French even back then. (The work is about Peru and Verne’s story is set in Peru.)

[Tad Davis]

Could this Strüve be the one whose mineral collection is mentioned in Journey to the Center of the Earth?

Tad Davis

— 

Tad Davis

tad.dav...@gmail.com

On May 1, 2026, at 8:48 AM, 'mken...@aol.com' via Jules Verne Forum <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



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[mken...@aol.com]

It’s possible. It seems the correct spelling is ›Struve‹, not ›Strüve‹. I’ve seached for the name. Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve was a geodesist who measured the Struve Geodetic Arc. He worked in Russia and the Struve in JttcotE is called ambassador of Russia. But it seems he did not work in mineralogy, so I guess the Struve in JttcotE was only inspired by but not identical to the real life Struve.

Cheers,

Matthias