Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell, also spelled Rueppell (20 November 1794 – 10 December 1884) was a German naturalist and explorer, best known for his collections and descriptions of plants and animals from Africa and Arabia.

Rüppell was born in Frankfurt am Main, the son of a prosperous banker, who was a partner in 'Rüppell und Harnier’s Bank'.

[1] He was originally destined to be a merchant, but after a visit to Sinai in 1817, where he met Henry Salt and the Swiss-German traveller Ludwig Burckhardt.

In 1823, they travelled up the Nile to Nubia, collecting specimens in the area south of Ambukol, returning to Cairo in July 1825.

Then in 1831, his team was based at Massawa for 6 months, while he collected plants and animals from the Red Sea, on excursions to the Dahlac Islands and also inland to Arkeko.

In July 1833, the party and his collection sailed from Massawa via Jidda to Egypt, and Rüppell continued to Marseille and back to Frankfurt.