Johann Hedwig
Johann Hedwig | |
---|---|
University of Leipzig | |
Known for | Bryology |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Botany |
Author abbrev. (botany) | Hedw. |
Johann Hedwig (8 December 1730 – 18 February 1799), also styled as Johannes Hedwig, was a German
Early life
Hedwig was born in
Career
After receiving his degree, Hedwig worked as a physician for the next twenty years. When he was not granted a license to practice in Transylvania with his Leipzig degree, he worked as a general practitioner in Chemnitz. It was during this time when he first pursued botany as a hobby.[1] He would routinely collect samples in the morning before work, then study his accumulation in the evening. He also was gifted a microscope and a small library, courtesy of Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber.[3]
Hedwig was very skilled at both microscopy and
In 1781, he moved to Leipzig, where he worked as a doctor at the city hospital. It was here that he published his first major work, the two volume Fundamentum historiae naturalis muscorum frondosorum in 1782. In 1786, he was hired as an associate professor of medicine at the University of Leipzig. In 1789, he became a professor of botany and director of the botanical garden at the school.
His chief work, Species muscorum frondosorum, was published posthumously in 1801. It describes nearly all the moss species then known, and is the starting point for nomenclature of all mosses, except for the Sphagnum group.
Legacy
Hedwig was the father of the botanist Romanus Adolf Hedwig. He was also the father-in-law of Christian Daniel Beck and grandfather of Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Beck .[8]
Today, Hedwig is commemorated both by the moss genus Hedwigia as well as the peer-reviewed journal Nova Hedwigia. In appreciation of Hedwig's achievements, the International Association of Bryologists awards the Hedwig Medal to scientists for extraordinary contributions in the field of Bryology.[9]
Hedwig's personal herbarium was auctioned off in 1810, but it was largely acquired by the Botanical Garden of Geneva, where the collection is still located today.[1]
Selected publications
- Fundamenta historiae naturalis muscorum: concernens etc. Apud S.L. Crusium. 1782.
- Hedwig, Johann (1792). Descriptio et adumbratio microscopico-analytica muscorum frondosorum nec non aliorum vegetantium e classe cryptogamica Linnaei novorum dubiisque vexatorum.
- Sammlung seiner zerstreuten Abhandlungen und Beobachtungen über botanisch-ökonomische Gegenstände. Crusius. 1793.
- Theoria generationis et fructificationis plantarum cryptogamicarum (in Latin). Leipzig: Christoph Gottlob Breitkopf & Gottfried Christoph Härtel. 1798.
- Filicum genera et species. recentiori methodo accomonodatae ... iconibusque illustratae a Romano Adolpho filio. Schaefer. 1799.
- Species muscorum frondosorum, descriptae et tabulis aeneis LXXVII coloratis illustratae. sumtu Joannis Ambrosii Barthii. 1801.
Editions
- Descriptio et adumbratio microscopico-analytica muscorum frondosorum nec non aliorum vegetantium a classe cryptogamica Linnaei (in Latin). Vol. 1. Leipzig: Johann Gottfried Müller. 1787.
- Descriptio et adumbratio microscopico-analytica muscorum frondosorum nec non aliorum vegetantium a classe cryptogamica Linnaei (in Latin). Vol. 2. Leipzig: Johann Gottfried Müller. 1789.
- Descriptio et adumbratio microscopico-analytica muscorum frondosorum nec non aliorum vegetantium a classe cryptogamica Linnaei (in Latin). Vol. 4. Leipzig: Johann Friedrich (2.) Gleditsch, Erben. 1797.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Johann Hedwig – the Father of Bryology". 8 December 2017.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Hedw.
- ^ a b Isely, Duane. One Hundred and One Botanists. Purdue University Press, 2002.
- ^ "Johann Hedwig | Transylvanian botanist".
- ISBN 0-12-508382-3
- ^ Meyer, Samuel L. “Physiological Studies on Mosses. VI. Spore Germination and Protonema Development in Physcomitrium Turbinatum (Michx.) Brid.” The Bryologist, vol. 50, no. 4, 1947, pp. 403–408. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3239646.
- ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 17 November 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Hedwig, Johann - Deutsche Biographie".
- ^ "Bryology.org: Hedwig Medal".