Alexander Filippovich Postels (Russian: Александр Филиппович Постельс; 24 August 1801 Dorpat - 26 June 1871 Vyborg), was a Baltic German of Russian citizenship naturalist, mineralogist and artist.Postels studied at St.Petersburg Imperial University and in 1826 lectured there on inorganic chemistry.In the 1820s political relations between Russia and the United States were troubled by the extent of Russian territory in North America.