Hans Meyer (geographer)

He studied sciences and history in Leipzig, Berlin and Straßburg, afterward traveling in India, North America and southern Africa.

He entered the publishing house of his father, the Bibliographisches Institut at Leipzig, in 1884, and in the following year became one of the directors of the firm, but at intervals he continued his exploring expeditions.

In 1888, alongside the Austrian cartographer Oscar Baumann, he explored the Usambara region, with designs of continuing on to Mount Kilimanjaro.

Only after a large ransom was paid to rebel leader Abushiri ibn Salim al-Harthi were the two men released.

In 1889 Meyer returned to Kilimanjaro with the celebrated Austrian mountaineer Ludwig Purtscheller and Yohane Lauwo, a Chagga guide for a third attempt.