Paul Christoph Hennings (November 27, 1841 – October 14, 1908) was a German
mycologist
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...
and
herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...
curator. He discovered the study of
cryptogams and mushrooms as a volunteer at the botanical garden. Although circumstances initially prevented him to study in that area, he later returned to natural sciences and eventually rose to a position at the largest herbarium in Germany. Originally interested in all non-higher plants, he specialised into mushrooms and became particularly versed in tropical species sent from abroad.
Biography
Borne in
Heide, he was attracted early to plant sciences early and as a young man attracted the attention of director
Ernst Ferdinand Nolte while a volunteer at the
Botanischer Garten der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel. After an interlude caused by the
Second Schleswig War
The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...
, and during which he worked in the postal services. This job, which he abhorred, forced to move a number of times until he could settle in 1867 in
Hohenwestedt
Hohenwestedt (Low Saxon: Wiste') is a municipality in the district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated approximately 23 km south of Rendsburg, 25 km west of Neumünster and 40 km southwest of K ...
, where he remained until 1874. There he began lecturing at the Agricultural School (german: Landwirtschaftsschule). He also began issuing exsiccatae and seed collections until Nolte's successor,
August W. Eichler
August Wilhelm Eichler, also known under his Latinized name, Augustus Guilielmus Eichler (22 April 1839 – 2 March 1887), was a German botanist who developed a new system of classification of plants to reflect the concept of evolution.
His au ...
, appointed him as an assistant. When Eichler went to work at the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
herbarium, he soon invited the younger man to join him. A complete
autodidact
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...
, Hennings rose to become one of the foremost mycologists of his time, and particularly a specialist of tropical fungi thanks to the innumerable collections sent to Berlin from the German colonies and South America. He had two sons from his wife Mathilde, which he had married in 1876, but lost one to illness in 1907, which, in the words of his obituarist, "paralyzed his energies and stole the pen from
isbusy hand". He died within a year.
See also
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:Taxa named by Paul Christoph Hennings
References
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Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hennings, Paul Christoph
1841 births
1908 deaths
German mycologists
People from Heide