Melchior Wieland Latinized as Melchior Guilandinus with the Italian form Melchiorre Guilandino (c. 1520 – 25 December 1589) was a Prussian botanist and physician who worked in Padua. Wieland was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

and was educated at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...

after which he moved to Italy. He sold herbs and later travelled through Asia into Egypt with letters of introduction from Senator Marino Cavalli of Padua. His ship was captured by Algerian pirates at

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

and employed as a galley slave. He was returned to Genoa with his ransom paid by his friend

Gabriele Falloppio Gabriele Falloppio (also Gabrielle Falloppia) (1522/23 – 9 October 1562) was an Italian anatomist often known by his Latin name Fallopius. He was one of the most important human anatomy, anatomists and physicians of the sixteenth century, givi ...

and then moved to Venice. In 1561 he became director of the Padua botanical garden and taught pharmacognosy. He is known mostly from his letters to Falloppio,

Ulisse Aldrovandi Ulisse Aldrovandi (11 September 1522 – 4 May 1605) was an Italian naturalist, the moving force behind Bologna's botanical garden, one of the first in Europe. Carl Linnaeus and the comte de Buffon reckoned him the father of natural history st ...

, and had a bitter feud with

Pietro Andrea Mattioli Pietro Andrea Gregorio Mattioli (; 12 March 1501 – ) was a doctor and naturalist born in Siena. Biography He received his MD at the University of Padua in 1523, and subsequently practiced the profession in Siena, Rome, Trento and Gorizia ...

. His detractor Mattioli seems to have been angered by communications between Wieland and

Conrad Gessner Conrad Gessner (; la, Conradus Gesnerus 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his tale ...

. Mattioli claimed that Wieland was the illegitimate son of a priest and a prostitute and Mattioli was expelled from his university for causing riots. Wieland bequeathed his books to the library at San Marco and is buried at the Basilica of St Anthony at Padua beside his friend Gabriele Fallopio. Linnaeus named the plant genus '' Guilandina'' after him.

Prospero Alpini Prospero Alpini (also known as Prosper Alpinus, Prospero Alpinio and Latinized as Prosperus Alpinus) (23 November 15536 February 1617) was a Venetian physician and botanist. He travelled around Egypt and served as the fourth prefect in charge of ...

was a student of his.

References

External links

Guilandino's treatises
* Published works *
Melchioris Guilandini Borussi R. Apologiae adversus Petr. Andream Mattheeolum
(1558) *
Melchioris Guilandini Papyrus : hoc est commentarius in tria C. Plinij maioris de papyro capita
(1572) *
De stirpibus aliquot, epistolae V
(1558) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wieland, Melchior 1589 deaths Herbalists People from Kaliningrad