Pál Kitaibel (3 February 1757 – 13 December 1817) was a Hungarian botanist and chemist. He was born at

Nagymarton Mattersburg (; formerly ''Mattersdorf'', hu, Nagymarton, Croatian: ''Matrštof'') is a town in Burgenland, Austria. It is the administrative center of the District of Mattersburg and was home to former Bundesliga football team, SV Mattersbur ...

(today Mattersburg, Austria) and studied botany and chemistry at the University of

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

. In 1794 he became Professor and taught these subjects at

Pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

. As well as studying the flora and hydrography of Hungary, in 1789 he discovered the element tellurium, but later gave the credit to Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein (1740–1825) who had actually discovered it in 1782. Together with Franz de Paula Adam von Waldstein (1759–1823), he wrote ''Descriptiones et icones plantarum rariorum Hungariae'' ("Descriptions and pictures of the rare plants of Hungary"; M. A. Schmidt, Vienna, three volumes, 1802–1812). In this work he made the first description of ''Nymphaea lotus'' f. ''thermalis''. He died in 1817 at

. The genus '' Kitaibelia'' of mallows was named after him by

Carl Ludwig von Willdenow 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 ...

. Species named after him: * '' Ablepharus kitaibelii'' Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Kitaibel", p. 142). * ''

Cardamine kitaibelii ''Cardamine'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the mustard family, Brassicaceae, known as bittercresses and toothworts. It contains more than 200 species of annuals and perennials. Species in this genus can be found worldwide, except t ...

'' * ''

Kitaibela vitifolia ''Kitaibelia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. Its native range is Western Balkan Peninsula, Southern Turkey to Syria. Species: *''Kitaibelia balansae ''Kitaibelia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging ...

'' * ''

Knautia kitaibelii ''Knautia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caprifoliaceae. The common names are variants of "widow flower". Others are given the name "scabious", which properly belongs to the related genus ('' Scabiosa''). The name ''Knautia'' co ...

'' * ''

Aquilegia kitaibelii ''Aquilegia'' (common names: granny's bonnet, columbine) is a genus of about 60–70 species of perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere, known for the spurred petals Pu ...

References

External links

Biography in Hungarian

Plants named for Kitaibel at IPNI

Bibliography

Books by and about Paul Kitaibel on Worldcat.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitaibel, Pal 19th-century Hungarian botanists Hungarian chemists 18th-century Hungarian botanists People from Mattersburg District 1757 births 1817 deaths