Giorgio Jan (21 December 1791 in Vienna – 8 May 1866, Milan) was an Italian taxonomist, zoologist,

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 ...

, herpetologist, and writer. He is also known as Georg Jan or Georges Jan.

Biography

After having been an assistant at the University of Vienna, Jan obtained the post of professor of botany at the university of Parma as well as becoming Director of the botanical garden. At that time, the duchy of Parma was no longer under Austrian jurisdiction following the Congress of Vienna after the defeat of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

at Waterloo. Giuseppe de Cristoforis died in 1837 bequeathing his collections to the town of Milan on condition that the municipality created a natural history museum whose direction had to be entrusted to Giorgio Jan, who offered his own collections. The '' Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano'' was created the following year and is the oldest natural history museum of Italy. Jan immediately engaged

Ferdinando Sordelli Ferdinando may refer to: Politics * Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1549–1609) * Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1610–1670) * Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany (1663–1713), eldest son of Cosimo ...

(1837–1916), artist and naturalist, who then illustrated his publications. Jan's main interest was botany, but he made immense collections of natural history, including

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

and minerals. With Giuseppe de Cristoforis, he published many catalogues of specimens, often offered for sale or exchange. In these many new species, were described mainly insects and molluscs. In the scientific field of

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

he is credited with having described more than 85 new species of snakes, and is honored by having several species and subspecies named after him, such as the Texas night snake (''

Hypsiglena torquata jani ''Hypsiglena jani'', commonly known as the Texas night snake or the Chihuahuan night snake, is a small species of mildly venomous snake in the Family (biology), family Colubridae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and adja ...

'' ), the Mexican pine snake (''

Pituophis deppei jani ''Pituophis'' is a genus of non venomous colubrid snakes, commonly referred to as gopher snakes, pine snakes, and bullsnakes, which are endemic to North America. Geographic range Species and subspecies within the genus ''Pituophis'' are found t ...

'' ), Jan's shovelsnout snake (''

Prosymna janii Prosymna ( grc, Πρόσυμνα) was a town in ancient Argolis, in whose territory the celebrated Heraeum, or temple of Hera, stood. Statius gives it the epithet "celsa." Pausanias mentions only a district of this name. According to Greek myt ...

'' #REDIREC

and Jan's centipede snake ('' Tantilla, Tantilla jani'' ). In the 1860s he began compiling what was to become the ''Iconographie Général des Ophidiens'', an extensive illustrated collection of scientific papers relating to snakes, but he died before it was completed. The work was eventually finished and published in several parts by Sordelli.

Publications (incomplete list)

*''Iconographie Générale des Ophidians'' (1860–1866). (in French). (in French).

References

External links

''Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Milano''
(in Italian).
Gaedike R, Groll EK, Taeger A (2012). Bibliography of the literature on entomology from the beginning until 1863 : online database - version 1.0 - ''Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jan, Giorgio Italian entomologists 19th-century Italian botanists Italian zoologists Scientists from Vienna Academics of the University of Vienna University of Parma faculty 1791 births 1866 deaths

Biography

Publications (incomplete list)

References

Further reading

External links