Gustav Woldemar Focke (24 January 1810,

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

– 1 June 1877, Bremen) was a German physician and naturalist. He was a nephew of naturalist

Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (4 February 1776, Bremen – 16 February 1837, Bremen) was a German physician, naturalist, and proto-evolutionary biologist. His younger brother, Ludolph Christian Treviranus (1779–1864), was also a naturalist an ...

. He studied medicine at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, receiving his doctorate in 1833. Following graduation, he was engaged in scientific research during an extended trip to various locations — in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, he was greatly influenced by the microscopic investigations being done by

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopist. Ehrenberg was an evangelist and was considered to be of the most famous and productive scie ...

. In 1835 he settled as a general practitioner in his hometown of Bremen. In 1869 he was named chairman of the ''Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins zu Bremen''.ADB:Focke, Gustav Woldemar
In:

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

(ADB). Band 7, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, S. 145 f. In the field of

phycology Phycology () is the scientific study of algae. Also known as algology, phycology is a branch of life science. Algae are important as primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Most algae are eukaryotic, photosynthetic organisms that live in a w ...

, he is known for his research involving

desmid Desmidiales, commonly called desmids (''Gr.'' ''desmos'', bond or chain), are an order in the Charophyta, a division of green algae in which the land plants (Embryophyta) emerged. Or in other words, Desmid, (order Desmidiales), order of single- ...

s and

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

s. In 1844 he described the

water flea The Diplostraca or Cladocera, commonly known as water fleas, are a superorder of small crustaceans that feed on microscopic chunks of organic matter (excluding some predatory forms). Over 1000 species have been recognised so far, with many more ...

'' Leptodora kindtii'', a species that he named in honor of pharmacist Georg Christian Kindt (1793–1869). The genus ''

Fockea ''Fockea'' is a genus of succulent scrubs native to southern Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) ...

'' (family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the ...

) was named after him by

Stephan Endlicher Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804, Bratislava (Pozsony) – 28 March 1849, Vienna) was an Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. Bio ...

Selected works

* ''De respiratione vegetabilium. Commentatio inauguralis phytologica'', 1833. * ''Über einige Organisationsverhältnisse bei polygastrischen Infusorien und Räderthieren''. Isis. 1836; 10: 785–787. * ''Planaria Ehrenbergii'', 1836. * ''Ein neues Infusorium''. Abh. d. Naturw. Ver. zu Bremen. V. S. 103. * ''Physiologische studien'' (2 volumes, 1847–54).Most widely held works by Gustav Woldemar Focke
WorldCat Identities

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Focke, Gustav Woldemar German naturalists German phycologists 1810 births 1877 deaths Physicians from Bremen Heidelberg University alumni 19th-century biologists 19th-century German scientists