Caspar Commelijn or Caspar Commelin (14 October 1668

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

– 25 December 1731 Amsterdam), was a Dutch botanist.

Life and work

He was the son of the bookseller, historian and publisher, Casparus Commelijn and his first wife, Margrieta Heydanus. His grandfather was Isaac Commelin. He enrolled on 12 September 1692 at

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

as a student of medicine and graduated on 27 February 1694 with a dissertation ''De lumbricis'' ("About earthworms", Ludg. Bat. 1694). After graduation, he settled in his birthplace. When

Peter Hotton Petrus Houttuyn (18 June 1648, Amsterdam – 10 January 1709, Leiden), often cited as Peter Hotton, was a Dutch botanist and medical professor of medicine and botany at Leiden University. As professor of botany, he was ex officio supervisor of th ...

departed for Leiden in 1696, Caspar was appointed to the post of botanist at the Hortus. He succeeded his uncle

Jan Commelin Jan Commelin (23 April 1629 – 19 January 1692), also known as Jan Commelijn, Johannes Commelin or Johannes Commelinus, was a botanist, and was the son of historian Isaac Commelin; his brother Casparus was a bookseller and newspaper publisher. J ...

, who together with Joan Huydecoper founded the Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam. Cornelis Troost02

Caspar worked on books that were left uncompleted by the death of his uncle,

, and enjoyed the support of

Nicolaes Witsen Nicolaes Witsen (8 May 1641 – 10 August 1717; modern Dutch: ''Nicolaas Witsen'') was a Dutch statesman who was mayor of Amsterdam thirteen times, between 1682 and 1706. In 1693 he became administrator of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). I ...

. Ruysch arranged for the city of Amsterdam to finance the publication. In 1703, he published a work on the systematics of rare exotic plants. In 1706, he was appointed as professor at the Athenaeum Illustre.

Frederik Ruysch Frederik Ruysch (; March 28, 1638 – February 22, 1731) was a Dutch botanist and anatomist. He is known for developing techniques for preserving anatomical specimens, which he used to create dioramas or scenes incorporating human parts. His ana ...

and Commelin divided the work, so that Ruysch dealt with the indigenous plants, and Commelijn the exotics. Jan Commelin, based his work on the taxonomic system devised by John Ray. Caspar was friends with the writer and artist

Maria Sibylla Merian Maria Sibylla Merian (2 April 164713 January 1717) was a German naturalist and scientific illustrator. She was one of the earliest European naturalists to observe insects directly. Merian was a descendant of the Frankfurt branch of the Swiss M ...

, and he wrote the botanical footnotes to her magnum opus, the ''Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium'', where he used his botanical knowledge to further describe and catalogue plants that were already known to Europeans. He also commissioned Merian's elder daughter Johanna to draw some of the artwork for his own books. Commelin grew up in the neighbourhood of O.Z. Achterburgwal, and lived, after his first marriage, on the

Singel The Singel is one of the canals of Amsterdam. The Singel encircled Amsterdam in the Middle Ages, serving as a moat around the city until 1585, when Amsterdam expanded beyond the Singel. The canal runs from the IJ bay, near the Central Statio ...

and after the second on the

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinsengr ...

510 near

Leidsestraat Leidseplein (English: Leiden Square) is a square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the Weteringschans neighborhood ( Centrum borough), immediately northeast of the Singelgracht. It is located on the crossroads of the Weteringschans, Ma ...

. In 1724, Caspar Commelin, while an inspector at the ''Collegium Medicum'', had his portrait painted by

Cornelis Troost __NOTOC__ Cornelis Troost (8 October 1696 – 7 March 1750) was an 18th-century actor and painter from Amsterdam. Troost was trained as an actor and married the actress Susanna Maria van der Duyn, but became a pupil of Arnold Boonen and g ...

. The painting is to be seen at the

Amsterdams Historisch Museum The Amsterdam Museum, known until 2010 as the Amsterdam Historical Museum, is an Amsterdam-based museum dedicated to the city's past and present. Due to the renovation of its main location, the museum is temporarily located in the building the Amst ...

. On his death, he was succeeded by

Johannes Burman Johannes Burman (26 April 1707 in Amsterdam – 20 February 1780), was a Dutch botanist and physician. Burman specialized in plants from Ceylon, Amboina and Cape Colony. The name ''Pelargonium'' was introduced by Johannes Burman. Johannes ...

Works

* '' Flora Malabarica sive Horti Malabarici catalogus exhibens omnium eiusdem Plantarum nomina, quae è variis, tum veteribus tum recentioribus Botanicis collegit, & in ordinen Alphabeticum digessit'' (Leiden, 1696). * ''Plantarum usualium horti medici Amstelodamensis Catalogus'' (Amsterdam, 1698) * ''Praeludia Botanica ad Publicas Plantarum exoticarum demonstrationes, dicta in Horto Medico, cum demonstrationes exoticarum 3 Octobris 1701, & 29 Mai 1702'' (Leiden, 1703)
Digital edition
by the University and State Library Düsseldorf * ''Horti medici Amstelaedamensis Plantae Rariores et Exoticae Ad vivum aeri incisae'' (Leiden, 1706) * ''Botano-Graphia a nominum barbarismis restituta, quam Florae-Malabaricae nomine celebrem, alphabetice ordinavit'' (Leiden, 1718) * ''Caspari Commelini Horti Medici Amstelaedamensis plantarum usualium catalogus'' (Amsterdam, 1724)

Reference

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commelijn, Caspar 1668 births 1731 deaths 17th-century Dutch botanists 18th-century Dutch botanists Pre-Linnaean botanists Scientists from Amsterdam Burials at the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam