Johann Friedrich Ruthe Ruthé or von Ruthe (16 April 1788 in Eggenstädt, near

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

– 24 August 1859 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) was a German

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

(Oberlehrer),

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 ...

and

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

. In the field of entomology he specialised in

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

and

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

. With assistance from

Heinrich Friedrich Link Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link (2 February 1767 – 1 January 1851) was a German naturalist and botanist. Biography Link was born at Hildesheim as a son of the minister August Heinrich Link (1738–1783), who taught him love of nature throu ...

(1767–1851) he began his studies 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 ...

in 1811. Here he had as instructors

Karl Rudolphi Karl Asmund Rudolphi (14 July 1771 – 29 November 1832) was a Swedish-born German naturalist, who is credited with being the "father of helminthology". Life Rudolphi was born in Stockholm to German parents. He was awarded his PhD in 1793 an ...

(1771–1832) and

Martin Lichtenstein Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein (10 January 1780 – 2 September 1857) was a German physician, explorer, botanist and zoologist. Biography Born in Hamburg, Lichtenstein was the son of Anton August Heinrich Lichtenstein. He studied medicine a ...

(1780–1857). After concluding his university studies, he taught classes at several schools in

and

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...

. Due to poor health he retired from teaching in 1842. The fungi genus ''Ruthea'' is named after him, now a synonym of ''

Paxillus ''Paxillus'' is a genus of mushrooms of which most are known to be poisonous or inedible. Species include '' Paxillus involutus'' and '' Paxillus vernalis''. Two former species—''Tapinella panuoides'' and ''Tapinella atrotomentosa''—have now ...

''. Also in 1976, botanists A.Hansen & G.Kunkel published '' Rutheopsis'', a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s from the Canary Islands belonging to the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

, also named in his honour.

Written works

Among his written works was a textbook on zoology, "''Handbuch der Zoologie''", that was co-authored with

Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann (2 June 1802 – 15 January 1841) was a German zoology, zoologist and Herpetology, herpetologist born in Braunschweig. He studied medicine and philology at the University of Leipzig, and afterwards was an assistant ...

(1802–1841). Other noted publications by Ruthe are the following: * Einige Bemerkungen und Nachträge zu Meigen's "Systematischer Beschreibung der europäischen zweiflügeligen Insecten". ''Isis'' ( Oken's) 1831: 1203-22 (1831). * ''Flora der Mark Brandenburg und der Niederlausitz'' (1827
2nd ed. 1834
- Flora of Mark Brandenburg and

Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; szl, Dolnŏ Łużyca; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the sou ...

. *
Leben eines Niedersachsen, von ihm selbst beschrieben
' (1841) - The life of a

Low Saxon Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of th ...

, as described by himself. * ''Die Spheciden und Chrysiden der Umgegend Berlins'' (1857) -

Sphecidae The Sphecidae are a cosmopolitan family of wasps of the suborder Apocrita that includes sand wasps, mud daubers, and other thread-waisted wasps. The name Sphecidae was formerly given to a much larger grouping of wasps. This was found to be p ...

and

Chrysididae Commonly known as cuckoo wasps or emerald wasps, the hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species) of parasitoid or kleptoparasitic wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliant metallic colors ...

found in the vicinity of Berlin.
World Cat Identities

References

Other sources

ADB:Ruthe, Johann Friedrich
– Wikisource biography * Martin Lowsky: Johann Friedrich Ruthe. Deserteur und Vagabund im Königreich Westphalen, Gelehrter in Berlin. In: H. Joachim Kusserow/Guide Erol Öztanil (ed.): "Mit stahlscharfer Klinge". Beiträge zu Johann Heinrich Oppermann. Hannover: Wehrhahn Verlag 2012, p. 121-140. 1788 births 1859 deaths German entomologists Dipterists Hymenopterists People from Hildesheim 19th-century German botanists {{Germany-zoologist-stub