Hans Jakob Oeri – Bildnis Paul Usteri 1820

Paul Usteri (14 February 1768, Zurich – 9 April 1831, Zurich) was a Swiss

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

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 ...

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. In 1788 he received his medical doctorate from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, afterwards working as an instructor at the Zurich medical institute (1789–1798). During this time period, he was also overseer of the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

for the ''Naturforschenden Gesellschaft'' in Zürich (Society of Natural Sciences in Zurich). During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, his interests turned to politics — from 1797 until his death in 1831, he held various government offices in Switzerland. Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
biography In 1801 he was named president of the Helvetian legislative council.Biodiversity Heritage Library
Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications In 1787, with Johann Jakob Römer, he founded the botanical journal "''Magazin für die Botanik''". In 1790 he published the treatise "''Delectus opusculorum botanicorum''". As a

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

he circumscribed the plant genus ''Biondea'' (family

Elaeocarpaceae Elaeaocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family contains approximately 615 species of trees and shrubs in 12 genera."Elaeocarpaceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki (ed.). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' vol. VI. Springer-Verlag: Be ...

). In 1793, the genus ''Usteria'' (family

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

) was named in his honor by

Antonio José Cavanilles Antonio José Cavanilles (16 January 1745 – 5 May 1804) was a leading Spanish taxonomic botanist of the 18th century. He named many plants, particularly from Oceania. He named at least 100 genera, about 54 of which were still used in 2004, ...

.Index Nominum Genericorum
Usteria

References

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* * * * * Swiss politicians 19th-century Swiss botanists Helvetic Republic Swiss public relations people Scientists from Zürich University of Göttingen alumni 1768 births 1831 deaths 18th-century Swiss botanists {{Switzerland-botanist-stub