Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck

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Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (February 14, 1776 - March 16, 1858) was a prolific German botanist, 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 a small village in what is now Odenwaldkreis, Germany. He showed an early interest in science and after receiving his first education at Darmstadt he went on to Jena, obtaining his degree in medicine in 1800. He practiced as a physician for a time, but he had developed a great interest in botany during his university studies, and eventually he returned to academia. 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 in Erlangen. Three years later he became professor of natural history in Bonn, and in 1831 he was appointed to the chair of botany in the university of Breslau.In 1818 he was elected president of the Leopoldina Academy. He continued as president of the academy for the rest of his life.

In 1848 he became politically active. In 1851 due to conflicts with the government he was deprived of his professorship and pension at the university of Breslau. Seven years later Nees von Esenbeck died essentially penniless in Breslau.

Werke

De Cinnamomo disputatio (1843)
Agrostologia brasiliensis (1829)
Genera et species Asterearum (1833)
Systema Laurinarum (1836)
Florae Africae australioris illustration monographicae Gramineae (1841)
Die Algen des süßen Wassers, nach ihren Entwickelungsstufen dargestellt (1814)
Das System der Pilze und Schwämme (1816)
Naturgeschichte der europäischen Lebermoose mit Erinnerungen aus dem Riesengebirge (1833-38, 4 Bände)
Bryologia germanica (wih Hornschuch und Sturm, 1823–31, 2 Bände mit 43 Tafeln)
Synopsis hepaticarum (mit Carl Moritz Gottsche und Johann Lindenberg, 1844–1847)
Hymenopterorum Ichneumonibus affinium monographiae (1834, 2 Bände)
System der spekulativen Philosophie, Band 1
Die Naturphilosophie (1841)
Die allgemeine Formenlehre der Natur (1852)
Vorlesungen zur Entwickelungsgeschichte des magnetischen Schlafs und Traums (1820)

References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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