Georg Dieck (28 April 1847 in

Zöschen Zöschen is a village and a former municipality in the district Saalekreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 31 December 2009, it is part of the town Leuna. Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Leuna {{Saalekreis-geo-stub ...

– 21 October 1925 in Zöschen) was a German

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

and

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 ...

. After attending high school in

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...

, he studied natural sciences at

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

, where he was a pupil and assistant of

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new sp ...

. In 1870, he taught in Zöschen at the large

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

, where over 6000 different tree and shrub species were cultivated. In addition to the maintenance of plant collections, Dieck went on expeditions in the Rockies (1888), in the Caucasus (1891) and Spain (1892), where he collected beetles, plants and mosses, while new taxa such as ''Orthotrichum cupulatum'' var ''baldaccii'' were discovered. Further journeys led him to France, Italy and Sicily, Morocco, the Balkans and Turkey. He wrote many scientific papers describing new taxa, and introduced several plants to western cultivation, notably ''Ulmus pumila'' L. var. ''arborea'' Litv. from

Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...

. His collections are in the

University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

(Biozentrum, World

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

in Paris (

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

), and the Natural History Museum in London (

). His collection of 450 rose species was presented at the

world's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

in Paris in 1900. Dieck was a Member of the

Société entomologique de France The Société entomologique de France, or French Entomological Society, is devoted to the study of insects. The society was founded in 1832 in Paris, France. The society was created by eighteen Parisian entomologists on January 31, 1832. The first ...

Eponymy

Several plant taxa are named for Dieck, including '' Brachythecium dieckii'' and maple ''Acer × dieckii'' hybrids.

References

*Wagener 1-3 1-754; 758-1354; 1-847, 141 Taf.(z.T. farbig); 342 Karten. 19th-century German botanists German lepidopterists 1847 births 1925 deaths People from Saalekreis 19th-century German zoologists 20th-century German zoologists 20th-century German botanists {{entomologist-stub