Prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher (1776–1858)
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific Germanbotanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. He described approximately 7,000 plant species (almost as many as Linnaeus himself). His last official act as president of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina was to admit Charles Darwin as a member. He was the author of numerous monographs on botany and zoology. His best-known works deal with fungi.
Biography
Nees von Esenbeck was born in Schloss Reichenberg near Reichelsheim (Odenwald). He showed an early interest in science and, after receiving his primary education in Darmstadt, he went on to the University of Jena, obtaining his degree in biology (natural history) and medicine in 1800. He practiced as a physician for Francis I (Erbach-Erbach), but he had developed a great interest in botany during his university studies, and eventually he returned to academia.[citation needed] In 1816, he joined the Leopoldina Academy, which was one of the most prestigious institutions in Europe. In 1817, he was appointed professor of botany at the University of Erlangen. Three years later, he became professor of natural history at the University of Bonn, where he established the Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, and in 1831, he was appointed to the chair of botany at the University of Breslau.[1] In 1818, he was elected president of the Leopoldina Academy. He continued as president of the academy for the rest of his life.
In botany he achieved notoriety for, among other things, contributions to the families Acanthaceae and Lauraceae.
He became politically active in the German revolutions of 1848–1849. In 1851, due to conflicts with the government, he was deprived of his professorship and pension at Breslau. Seven years later, Nees von Esenbeck died essentially penniless in Breslau. He was an older brother to botanist Theodor Friedrich Ludwig Nees von Esenbeck (1787–1837).[1]
^Pilger, Robert Knud Friedrich 1940. Neesiochloa eine neue Gramineengattung aus Brasilien. Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis 48: 119–120
^Tropicos, Neesiochloa Pilg.
^Grassbase - The World Online Grass Flora
^"Neesenbeckia Levyns | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Nees von Esenbeck, Christian Gottfried". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 342.
Further reading
Jahn: Geschichte der Biologie. Spektrum 2000
Karl Mägdefrau: Geschichte der Botanik. Fischer 1992
Bohley, Johanna: Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck: ein Lebensbild. – Stuttgart: Wissenschaftl. VG, 2003. – ISBN 3-8047-2075-7
Engelhardt, Dietrich von (Hrsg.): Christian Gottfried Nees von Esenbeck: Politik und Naturwissenschaft in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts. – Stuttgart: Wissenschaftl. VG, 2004. – ISBN 3-8047-2153-2
External links
Wikisource has original works by or about: Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
http://www.nees-von-esenbeck.de/ Archived 2019-09-09 at the Wayback Machine (German language site devoted to Nees von Esenbeck; includes extensive biography)
"History" (in German). Nees-Institut für Biodiversität der Pflanzen. Archived from the original on 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2008-07-24.