German geographer, a principal figure in the revival of geographic learning in Europe and the founder of historical geography.

After becoming a soldier and then traveling throughout most of Europe, Clüver in 1615 settled in Leiden, where the following year he was appointed geographus academicus (“academic geographer”), with an annual stipend. He approached geography through history and classical authors. Among his works the most important is Introductio in Universam Geographiam (1624; “Introduction to Universal Geography”). The first of its six volumes deals in general with the Earth, but it is the remaining five on which his reputation rests. They contain short descriptions of countries and stress human and historical considerations. The Introductio remained a standard work through the mid-18th century.