Ludwig August Mellin

He is best known for creating the first professional atlas visualizing Livonia (area now divided between Estonia and Latvia), the Atlas von Liefland, oder von den beyden Gouvernementern u. Herzogthümern Lief- und Ehstland, und der Provinz Oesel in 1798.

Mellin was born in Tuhala (present day Estonia) in the manor of his father.

Empress Catherine II assigned Mellin to join Holstein princes Wilhelm Augusti and Peter Friedrich Ludwig to Europe on an educational tour in 1767.

Mellin, a soldier in the Imperial Russian Army, became a cartographer at the request of Paul I of Russia, who wanted to see a map of Livonia.

Mellin used maps from private collections, the military, and the Russian Academy of Sciences.