Johann Christian Mikan (born 5 December 1769 in
Teplitz
Teplice () (until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz-Schönau or ''Teplitz'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest Czech spa town, after Karlovy Vary. The hist ...
, died 28 December 1844 in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
) was an
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
-
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
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 ...
,
zoologist
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
and
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 ...
. He was the son of
Joseph Gottfried Mikan.
Career
Mikan was a professor of natural history at the University of Prague. He was one of three leading naturalists on the
Austrian Brazil Expedition
The Austrian expedition to Brazil (Österreichische Brasilien-Expedition) was a scientific expedition which explored Brazil. It was organized and financed by the Austrian Empire from 1817 to 1835.
History
The expedition had as its main supporter t ...
.
He wrote ''Monographia Bombyliorum Bohemiæ, iconibus illustrata'' in 1796, ''Entomologische Beobachtungen, Berichtigungen und Entdeckungen'' in 1797, and ''Delectus Florae et Faunae Brasiliensis, etc.'' in 1820. Mikan described many new species, including the
black lion tamarin
The black lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus chrysopygus''), also known as the golden-rumped lion tamarin, is a lion tamarin endemic to the Brazilian state of São Paulo, almost exclusively at the Morro do Diabo State Park. Its limited geographical ...
.
Mikan is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of South American snake, ''
Dipsas mikanii''.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Mikan", p. 178).]
The genus ''
Mikania
''Mikania'' is a genus of about 450 species of plants in the tribe Eupatorieae within the family Asteraceae.
The name honors the Czech botanist Johann Christian Mikan, 1743–1814. Members of the genus are stem twiners and lianas and are common ...
''
Willd.
Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was al ...
(Asteraceae) was named for his father Joseph Gottfried Mikan (1743–1814), professor of botany and chemistry at the Prague University.
See also
Mikan (disambiguation)
A mikan is a citrus fruit, also variously called ''Citrus unshiu'', unshu mikan, Wenzhou migan, or a satsuma.
Mikan may also refer to:
People
* Joseph Gottfried Mikan (also J.G. Mikan; 1743–1814), Austrian-Czech botanist
* Johann Christia ...
Bibliography
Books by J. C. Mikan on WorldCat
References
Further reading
*Anonymous (1852).
ikan, J. C.''Lotos'' 2: 63–65.
*Eiselt JN (1836). ''Geschichte, Systematik und Literatur der Insectenkunde, von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf die Gegenwart. Als Handbuch für den Jünger und als Repertorium für den Meister der Entomologie bearbeitet''. Leipzig: C. H. F. Hartmann. (in German).
*Evenhuis NL (1997). ''Litteratura taxonomica dipterorum'' (1758–1930). Volume 1 (A-K); Volume 2 (L-Z). Leiden. (in Latin).
*Stearn T (1956). "Mikan's ''Delectus Florae et Faunae Brasiliensis'' ". ''J. Soc. Bibliog.Nat. Hist.'' 3 (3): 135–136 .
External links
Detailed biography in the ''Neue deutsche Biographie''.
Czech botanists
19th-century Austrian zoologists
Czech zoologists
Czech entomologists
Austrian entomologists
Botanists with author abbreviations
Austrian people of Czech descent
People from Teplice
1769 births
1844 deaths
18th-century Austrian zoologists
{{entomologist-stub