FORSTER, JOHANN GEORG Anam, commonly known as George F., eldest son of Johann Reinhold Forster (q.v.), a German traveler and naturalist, was born at Nassen huben, near Dantzig, in 1754, and died at Paris in 1794. When only 17 years of age, he accompanied his father in capt. Cook's second voyage ; and shortly after his return, he published, with the assistance of his father, an account of the expedition. His book, which does not differ materially in its facts from Cook's narrative, was well received by the public, and was translated into French, German, Swedish, and other languages. Humboldt speaks of this work and of its author, •' my celebrated teacher and friend, George Forster," in the highest terms in the coomos (see vol, ii. p..437,7Bolin's ed.). F. having returned to the continent, was made professor of natural history at Cassel, and afterwards at Wilna. Having there no access to books, in 1788 he gladly accepted the office of librarian to the elector of Mayence. After Mayence was taken by the French in 1792, F., who had become an ardent republican, was sent as a deputy to Paris, to request the incorporation of Mayence with the French republic, While he was in Paris on this mission, the Prussians retook Mayence, and F. lost all his property, including
his books and manuscripts. He then writes to a friend: "If I could only scrape together £400, I would learn Persian and Arabic, and go overland to India to gather new experience," but about this time he seems to have been suffering-from rheumatic gout, which gradually increased in severity, and which terminated his life on the 12th of Jan., 1794. Besides numerous translations, and the account of capt. Cook's voy age, his most important works are Kleine Schriften, ein Beitrag 21I7' Volker kunde, Naturgeschichte und Philosophie des Lebens (6 vols., Berlin, and Ansichten V0771 Niederrhein, Brabant, Flandern, Holland, England, and Frankreich (3 vols., Berlin, 1791-94). His widow, the daughter of Heine, but perhaps more widely known as Therese Huber, published a collection of his letters, in 2 vols., in 1828-29; and a complete edition of his works, in 9 vols., was published by his daughter and Ger vinus, in 1843.