Baron Egor Nikolaevich Sheffer, also known as Georg Anton Alois von Sheffer, was born on January 20, 1779, in Münnerstadt, Franconia, and died in 1836 in Frankenthal, Brazil. He was a German and Russian naturalist, mineralogist, biologist, pharmacist, and traveler. Since 1813, Sheffer served as the ship's doctor on the Russian frigate 'Suvorov'. In 1822, he became a colonist in the service of the Russian-American Company and proposed a project to include the Hawaiian Islands in the Russian Empire. However, the attempt to implement this project, despite brief successes, was unsuccessful and led to financial losses for the company.

Georg Sheffer studied pharmacology in Munich from 1799 to 1800, after which he worked in a pharmacy in Münnerstadt. In 1804, he began his studies at the medical college in Würzburg and received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1808. That same year, he emigrated to Russia with his wife Barbara. They initially lived in St. Petersburg and moved to Moscow in 1812. For his merits, Sheffer was awarded the title of baron. He was also known as a master of the order of freemasons and actively engaged in the study of botany and minerals. In 1812, he accidentally met his childhood friend Franz Leppich in Moscow and was appointed 'director of physicochemical supplies' for the construction of a combat balloon in Vorontsov. After the failure of the balloon for the Battle of Borodino, Sheffer accompanied the evacuation of materials to Nizhny Novgorod and Oranienbaum. The loss of property in the Moscow fire, his wife's mental disorder, and Leppich's departure from Russia prompted Sheffer to join the naval expedition to Alaska on the sloop 'Suvorov' in 1813. However, he was discharged from the ship in Alaska as 'a man intolerable on board'.

On January 31, 1815, the Russian ship 'Bering' arrived at the shores of Kauai Island for resupply, where the ruler of Kauai, Kaumuali'i, confiscated the vessel and cargo. In response, the Russian-American Company sent an armed expedition on the ship 'Discovery'. Sheffer arrived in Oahu, where he was welcomed by King Kamehameha, but soon the king began to suspect him of dishonest intentions. Sheffer went to Kauai to free the ship, but Kaumuali'i agreed to return it, hoping for support from Russia. Sheffer was gifted the Hanalei Valley, renamed Sheffertal, and the Hanapepe River, named Don.

In 1816, under Sheffer's leadership, three forts were built: Elizabeth, Alexander, and Barclay. However, in 1817, five ships with armed Americans and natives arrived on the island, which destroyed the Russian factories and plantations, sending Russian subjects back on one of the Russian ships.

Upon returning to St. Petersburg, Sheffer presented a plan for Russia to occupy one of the Hawaiian Islands, which was supported by the Russian-American Company, but the tsar rejected the project.

In April 1818, Sheffer arrived in Brazil, where he achieved an audience with Princess Leopoldina and gifted her a botanical collection. Upon returning to Europe, he settled affairs and in 1821 founded the first German colony in Brazil, Frankenthal. In 1822, he was sent to Europe to recruit German soldiers and settlers, marking the beginning of mass German immigration to Brazil. In 1828, Sheffer returned to Brazil and requested the title of viscount but received only a monetary reward. In 1829, he unsuccessfully attempted to become the Brazilian ambassador in Germany. Sheffer died in obscurity, presumably in 1836, in his colony of Frankenthal.