Ferdinand Didrichsen 1868 by Budtz Müller 02

Didrik Ferdinand Didrichsen (3 July 1814 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

– 19 March 1887 in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

. He participated as botanist in the first

Galathea Expedition The ''Galathea'' expeditions comprise a series of three Danish ship-based scientific research expeditions in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, carried out with material assistance from the Royal Danish Navy and, with regard to the second and thi ...

(1845—1847). In 1851 he began work as a librarian at the botanical gardens in Copenhagen. From 1856 to 1875 he was an associate professor of botany. In 1875, Didrichsen succeeded

Anders Sandøe Ørsted Anders Sandøe Ørsted (21 December 1778 – 1 May 1860) was a Danish lawyer, politician and jurist. He served as the Prime Minister of Denmark in 1853–1854. Biography He studied philosophy and law at the University of Copenhagen and was ...

as professor of botany at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

and director of the

botanic garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

, whereby the already then much better known

Eugen Warming Eugen is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Archduke Eugen of Austria (1863–1954), last Habsburg Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order from 1894 to 1923 * Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke (1865–1947), Swedish painter, art collector, and pat ...

was passed over. After Didrichsen's retirement in 1885, Warming succeeded him in both positions. As a

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

, he described the botanical genera ''

Mostuea ''Mostuea'' is one of only three genera of flowering plants belonging to the small family Gelsemiaceae (the other two being ''Gelsemium'' and '' Pteleocarpa''). ''Mostuea'' and ''Gelsemium'' were formerly placed in the family Loganiaceae, while ' ...

'', '' Myriogomphus'', '' Pogonophyllum'' and '' Stenonia'', as well as numerous plant species. Many of these findings were published in the '' Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra den Naturhistoriske Forening i Kjøbenhavn''. Taxa with the specific epithet of ''didrichsenii'' are named in his honor.

Publications

* ''Plantas nonnullas musei Universitatis Hauniensis descripsit'', 1854. * ''For hundrede Aar siden : smaa Samlinger til et Tidsrum af den danske Botaniks Historie : særskilt Aftryk af "Naturhistorisk Tidsskrift", 3. R. 6. B.'', 1869.WorldCat Search
publications)

References

1814 births 1887 deaths 19th-century Danish botanists Botanists active in South Asia University of Copenhagen alumni University of Copenhagen faculty {{Denmark-botanist-stub