Victor Hensen

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Victor Hensen

Christian Andreas Victor Hensen (10 February 1835 – 5 April 1924) was a German

zoologist and marine biologist (planktology). He coined the term plankton and laid the foundation for biological oceanography
and quantitative studies.

Family

Hensen was born in the town of Schleswig where his father ran a school for the deaf and dumb. His mother Henriette Caroline Amalie was the daughter of physician Carl Ferdinand Suadicani who founded an asylum in Schleswig. Hensen had eight sisters and five brothers including from his father's first marriage.[1]

Education and work

Kiel. In 1859, he received his doctorate in Kiel for a thesis on epilepsy
and urinary secretions. He worked for a while at Kiel and in 1859 he became a lecturer in anatomy and histology. He became an associate professor in 1864, succeeding Peter Ludwig Panum.

In 1867, he became a member of the Prussian House of Representatives to push towards studies of the ocean. Upon his initiative, the Royal Prussian Commission for the Exploration of the Oceans was founded. Hensen's students included Paul Höber, Hans Winterstein, and Hans Piper.[2]

He became a professor of physiology in 1868 and worked at Kiel until 1891. During his time, he was head of five marine biological expeditions to the Baltic and North Seas, as well as the Atlantic Ocean. He led an expedition in 1889 on the steamboat National from Kiel to southern Greenland in the north to as far as near the mouth of the Amazon in Pará, Brazil in the south to study whether plankton can be found more in tropical waters than cold waters.[3][4]: 464 

Hensen also worked in

Hensen's line.[5]

Hensen was for several years dean of the Faculty of Medicine and several times was rector of the University of Kiel. He was honorary doctor of Kiel, a member of the Leopoldine Academy, and a corresponding member of the Bavarian and Prussian academies of science.

Family and legacy

Hensen married Andrea Katharina Friederike Seestern-Pauly in 1870 and they had two sons and daughters. The RV VICTOR HENSEN is a research vessel named in his honor.

Works

  • Zur Morphologie der Schnecke des Menschen und der Säugethiere (1863)
The standard author abbreviation Hensen is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[6]

References

  1. S2CID 84036881
    .
  2. ^ Kortum, G. (2009). "Victor Hensen in der Geschichte der Meeresforschung" (PDF). Schriften des Naturwissenschaftlichen vereins für Schleswig-Holstein (in German). 71: 3–25.
  3. ISBN 978-0-13-262072-7
    .
  4. ISBN 978-1-4613-8092-4
    .
  5. S2CID 20886298
    .
  6. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Hensen.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victor Hensen.


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