Johan Zoëga (7 October 1742 - 29 December 1788) 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 ...

entomologist and botanist. Johan Zoëga ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon '' Retrieved December 1, 2020

Biography

Johan Zoëga was born at Ravsted in

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

. His father Poul Christian Zoëga was a parish priest. His cousin was the archaeologist Jörgen Zoega. He studied botany at the University of Uppsala where he was a pupil of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

. He contributed to a work by Linnaeus who named the plant genus Zoegea after him. For some years he helped

Georg Christian Oeder Georg Christian Edler von Oldenburg Oeder (3 February 172828 January 1791) was a German- Danish botanist, medical doctor, economist and social reformer. His name is particularly associated with the initiation of the plate work ''Flora Danica''. ...

as his assistant at the

University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden The University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden ( da, Botanisk have), usually referred to simply as Copenhagen Botanical Garden, is a botanical garden located in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers an area of 10 hectares and is particularly ...

. When the position was revoked in 1770, he applied to the central administration and in 1771 became secretary of the Department of the College of Finance. In 1773 he was a clerk in the Funen office, in 1779 a commissioner in the Chamber of Finance (''Rentekammeret'') and in 1784 a deputy in the College of Finance (''Finanskollegiet''). As a botanist, Zoëga wrote ''Flora Islandica'' (Soroe, 1772, Kopenhagen et Leipzig 1775)

References

External links

Georg Brandes' Holberg-bog: Biografier fra Holberg til Rahbek
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoega, Johan Danish entomologists 18th-century Danish botanists 1742 births 1788 deaths People from the Duchy of Schleswig