Jacob Breyne (14 January 1637 – 25 January 1697) was a Polish merchant, naturalist, and artist, born in Danzig (Gdańsk),

Royal Prussia Royal Prussia ( pl, Prusy Królewskie; german: Königlich-Preußen or , csb, Królewsczé Prësë) or Polish PrussiaAnton Friedrich Büsching, Patrick Murdoch. ''A New System of Geography'', London 1762p. 588/ref> (Polish: ; German: ) was a ...

(a fief of the

Crown of Poland The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, includi ...

). He was the father of

Johann Philipp Breyne Johann Philipp Breyne FRS (9 August 1680, Danzig (Gdańsk), Royal Prussia (a fief of the Crown of Poland) – 12 December 1764, Danzig, Royal Prussia), son of Jacob Breyne (1637–97), was a German-Polish botanist, palaeontologist, zoologist and ...

Biography

Breyne was interested in plants from a young age, and collected specimens from around Danzig. He recorded where they were found and included

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

notes on each plant. He also collected specimens and plant illustrations from elsewhere, including the famous portfolio of paintings of Cape of Good Hope plants. These artworks were purchased in 1956, by Sir

Ernest Oppenheimer Sir Ernest Oppenheimer (22 May 1880 – 25 November 1957), KStJ was a diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa. Career Ernest Oppenhe ...

. In 1661 Breyne made his first trip of many to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He became acquainted with prominent members of the community there who kept gardens which included some of the most beautiful and rare plants. A large number of the plants Breyne drew came from Van Beverningk, from Oud-Teilingen Sassenheim near

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 ...

. Breyne died in Danzig in 1697.

Works

* Jacobi Breynii, Johann Philipp Breynii, Exoticarum aliarumque minus cognitarium plantarum centuria prima, 1678. * Jacobi Breynii, Christian Mentzel, Pinax botanōnymos polyglōttos katholikos, Index nominum plantarum universalis, 1682. *

References

Artists from Gdańsk 1637 births 1697 deaths Scientists from Gdańsk 17th-century German botanists 17th-century Polish botanists {{botanist-stub