Joachim Christian Timm (7 December 1734 – 3 February 1805) was a German

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...

, mayor of Malchin, and a

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 ...

with a particular interest in

cryptogram A cryptogram is a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of encrypted text. Generally the cipher used to encrypt the text is simple enough that the cryptogram can be solved by hand. Substitution ciphers where each letter is replaced by ...

s. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Timm when citing a

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the '' International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Intern ...

Life

Joachim Christian Timm, the son of

tobacconist A tobacconist, also called a tobacco shop, a tobacconist's shop or a smoke shop, is a retailer of tobacco products in various forms and the related accoutrements, such as pipes, lighters, matches, pipe cleaners, and pipe tampers. More specia ...

Matthias Ernst Timm (1704–1779), was born in Wangerin in

Farther Pomerania Farther Pomerania, Hinder Pomerania, Rear Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania (german: Hinterpommern, Ostpommern), is the part of Pomerania which comprised the eastern part of the Duchy and later Province of Pomerania. It stretched roughly from the Od ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

(now in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

) and attended school there. In 1749 he started a five-year apprenticeship as an apothecary, initially with Friedrich John in Wangerin, where he served for a year as an assistant. In the 1750s he was in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

, working in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

. At the end of the 1750s he moved to Malchin to manage the apothecary business of Georg Heinrich Kruger and his successors. In 1760, Timm became the official apothecary of Malchin. In 1771 he was elected senator. In 1778 he became the Second or Vice-Mayor of Malchin, becoming the Mayor in 1790. The tradition of having more than one mayor to lead the town ended with his death. As an apothecary, he was interested in

botany 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 w ...

. He enthusiastically collected plants of all kinds, especially cryptogams, primarily in the Malchin area. In 1788 he published his work ''Florae megapolitanae Prodromus'', which he based on the system of the Swedish botanist

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

. Professor

Johann Hedwig Johann Hedwig (8 December 1730 – 18 February 1799), also styled as Johannes Hedwig, was a German botanist notable for his studies of mosses. He is sometimes called the "father of bryology". He is known for his particular observations of sexual r ...

of Leipzig later named a genus of moss '' Timmia'' after him, including the species he found at Malchin in Mecklenburg, '' Timmia megapolitana''. The epithet ''megapolitania'' here refers to Mecklenburg, which was then often referred to by the Greek equivalent ''megapolis''. At the instigation of the author of a

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

on ''Timmia'',

Guy Brassard Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorp ...

, a mountain on the Arctic

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island ( iu, script=Latn, Umingmak Nuna, lit=land of muskoxen; french: île d'Ellesmere) is Canada's northernmost and List of Canadian islands by area, third largest island, and the List of islands by area, tenth largest in the world. ...

was named "Mount Timmia" in honour of Timm. In 1762, Timm married Anna Christine Elisabeth Witte (1743–1792), a merchant's daughter from

Röbel Röbel () is a municipality in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the western shore of Lake Müritz, 25 km north of Wittstock, and 27 km southwest of Waren. It is pa ...

. They had ten children, including the sons Joachim (1768–1801) and Hans Timm (1774–1852), who one after the other succeeded their father as the official apothecary in Malchin. Another son, Helmuth Timm (1782–1848), became a pastor in

Groß Gievitz Groß Gievitz is a village and a former municipality in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the sec ...

and later in Malchin. Joachim Christian Timm died in

Malchin Malchin () is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It offers some notable landmarks, such as two Brick Gothic town gates, a medieval defense tower, the Gothic town church of St. Johannis ...

in 1805 and is regarded today as a pioneer of modern botany in Germany.

References and bibliography

* , pp. 97–101 * ''Bryologische Rundbriefe'', No. 21, June 1995 (in German) * , pp. 519–520 * , p. 20 (in German) * , p. 161 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Timm, Joachim Christian 18th-century German botanists Botanists with author abbreviations 1734 births 1805 deaths People from Łobez County People from the Province of Pomerania Apothecaries