Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold (17 February 1796 – 18 October 1866) was a German

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 ...

and traveler. He achieved prominence by his studies of Japanese

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

and the introduction of Western medicine in Japan. He was the father of the first female Japanese doctor educated in Western medicine,

Kusumoto Ine Kusumoto Ine (, 31 May 182727 August 1903; born Shiimoto Ine ) was a Japanese physician. She was the daughter of Kusumoto Taki, who was a courtesan from Nagasaki; and the German physician Philipp Franz von Siebold, who worked on Dejima, an is ...

Career

Naturalis Biodiversity Center - Siebold Collection - Philipp Franz von Siebold - Portrait

Early life

Born into a family of doctors and professors of medicine in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

(then in the Bishopric of Würzburg, later part of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

), Siebold initially studied medicine at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

from November 1815, where he became a member of the

Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

Moenania Würzburg. One of his professors was Franz Xaver Heller (1775–1840), author of the ' ("Flora of the Grand Duchy of Würzburg", 1810–1811). Ignaz Döllinger (1770–1841), his professor of anatomy and physiology, however, most influenced him. Döllinger was one of the first professors to understand and treat medicine as a natural science. Siebold stayed with Döllinger, where he came in regular contact with other scientists. He read the books of Humboldt, a famous naturalist and explorer, which probably raised his desire to travel to distant lands. Philipp Franz von Siebold became a physician by earning his

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

degree in 1820. He initially practiced medicine in Heidingsfeld, in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

, now part of

. Invited to Holland by an acquaintance of his family, Siebold applied for a position as a military physician, which would enable him to travel to the Dutch colonies. He entered the Dutch military service on 19 June 1822, and was appointed as ship's surgeon on the frigate ''Adriana'', sailing from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

to Batavia (present-day

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

) in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

(now called

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

). On his trip to Batavia on the frigate ''Adriana'', Siebold practiced his knowledge of the Dutch language and also rapidly learned

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

, and during the long voyage he began a collection of marine fauna. He arrived in Batavia on 18 February 1823. As an army medical officer, Siebold was posted to an

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

unit. However, he was given a room for a few weeks at the residence of the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Baron Godert van der Capellen, to recover from an illness. With his erudition, he impressed the Governor-General, and also the director of the botanical garden at Buitenzorg (now

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt. These men sensed in Siebold a worthy successor to

Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German naturalist, physician, explorer and writer known for his tour of Russia, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He wrote two books about his travels. ''A ...

and

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala Un ...

, two former resident physicians at Dejima, a Dutch trading post in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the former of whom was the author of '. The

Batavian Academy of Arts and Sciences Batavi may refer to: *Batavi (Germanic tribe) **Revolt of the Batavi * Batavi (military unit) * Batavi (software), e-commerce software * ''Batavi'' (album), album by Dutch pagan/folk metal band Heidevolk See also *Batavia (disambiguation) Batavia ...

soon elected Siebold as a member.

Arrival in Japan

On 28 June 1823, after only a few months in the Dutch East Indies, Siebold was posted as resident

and

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

to Dejima, a small artificial island and trading post at

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, and arrived there on 11 August 1823. During an eventful voyage to Japan he only just escaped drowning during a

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

. As only a very small number of Dutch personnel were allowed to live on this island, the posts of physician and scientist had to be combined. Dejima had been in the possession of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

(known as the VOC) since the 17th century, but the Company had gone bankrupt in 1798, after which a trading post was operated there by the Dutch state for political considerations, with notable benefits to the Japanese. The European tradition of sending doctors with botanical training to Japan was a long one. Sent on a mission by the Dutch East India Company,

(1651–1716), a German physician and botanist who lived in Japan from 1690 until 1692, ushered in this tradition of a combination of physician and botanist. The Dutch East India Company did not, however, actually employ the Swedish botanist and physician

(1743–1828), who had arrived in Japan in 1775.

Medical practice

Japanese scientists invited Siebold to show them the marvels of western science, and he learned in return through them much about the Japanese and their customs. After curing an influential local officer, Siebold gained the permission to leave the trade post. He used this opportunity to treat Japanese patients in the greater area around the trade post. Siebold is credited with the introduction of

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

and pathological anatomy for the first time in Japan. In 1824, Siebold started a medical school in Nagasaki, the ''Narutaki-juku'', that grew into a meeting place for around fifty ''students''. They helped him in his botanical and naturalistic studies. The Dutch language became the ''

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

'' (common spoken language) for these academic and scholarly contacts for a generation, until the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. His patients paid him in kind with a variety of objects and artifacts that would later gain historical significance. These everyday objects later became the basis of his large ethnographic collection, which consisted of everyday household goods,

woodblock prints Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...

, tools and hand-crafted objects used by the Japanese people.

Japanese family

During his stay in Japan, Siebold "lived together" with Kusumoto Taki (楠本滝), who gave birth to their daughter Kusumoto (O-)Ine in 1827. Siebold used to call his wife "Otakusa" (probably derived from O-Taki-san) and named a '' Hydrangea'' after her. Kusumoto Ine eventually became the first Japanese woman known to have received a physician's training and became a highly regarded practicing physician and court physician to the Empress in 1882. She died at court in 1903.

Studies of Japanese fauna and flora

His main interest, however, focused on the study of Japanese fauna and flora. He collected as much material as he could. Starting a small botanical garden behind his home (there was not much room on the small island) Siebold amassed over 1,000 native plants. In a specially built glasshouse he cultivated the Japanese plants to endure the Dutch

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

. Local Japanese artists like

Kawahara Keiga Kawahara Keiga ( ja, 川原慶賀, also known as Taguchi Takumi or Toyosuke, Nagasaki, 1786–1860?) was a late Edo period Japanese painter of plants, fishes, birds, reptiles, crustaceans, social scenes, landscapes and portraits at the Dutch Facto ...

drew and painted images of these plants, creating botanical illustrations but also images of the daily life in Japan, which complemented his ethnographic collection. He hired Japanese hunters to track rare animals and collect specimens. Many specimens were collected with the help of his Japanese collaborators Keisuke Ito (1803–1901), Mizutani Sugeroku (1779–1833), Ōkochi Zonshin (1796–1882) and Katsuragawa Hoken (1797–1844), a physician to the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

''. As well, Siebold's assistant and later successor,

Heinrich Bürger Heinrich Bürger (or: Heinrich Burger) (Hamelin, 29 February 1804, or 7 November 1804, or 20 January 1806 – Indramayu (Java) 25 March 1858) was a German physicist, biologist and botanist employed by the Dutch government, and an entrepreneur. ...

(1806–1858), proved to be indispensable in carrying on Siebold's work in Japan. Siebold first introduced to Europe such familiar garden-plants as the '' Hosta'' and the ''Hydrangea otaksa''. Unknown to the Japanese, he was also able to smuggle out germinative seeds of tea plants to the botanical garden ' in Batavia. Through this single act, he started the tea culture in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, a Dutch

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

at the time. Until then Japan had strictly guarded the trade in tea plants. Remarkably, in 1833, Java already could boast a half million tea plants. He also introduced Japanese knotweed ('' Reynoutria japonica'',

syn. The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

''Fallopia japonica''), which has become a highly invasive weed in Europe and North America. All derive from a single female plant collected by Siebold. During his stay at Dejima, Siebold sent three shipments with an unknown number of herbarium specimens to

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. The shipment to Leiden contained the first specimens of the Japanese giant salamander (''Andrias japonicus'') to be sent to Europe. In 1825 the government of the Dutch-Indies provided him with two assistants: apothecary and mineralogist

(his later successor) and the painter

Carl Hubert de Villeneuve Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

. Each would prove to be useful to Siebold's efforts that ranged from ethnographical to botanical to horticultural, when attempting to document the exotic Eastern Japanese experience. De Villeneuve taught Kawahara the techniques of Western painting. Reportedly, Siebold was not the easiest man to deal with. He was in continuous conflict with his Dutch superiors who felt he was arrogant. This threat of conflict resulted in his recall in July 1827 back to Batavia. But the ship, the ''Cornelis Houtman'', sent to carry him back to Batavia, was thrown ashore by a typhoon in Nagasaki bay. The same storm badly damaged Dejima and destroyed Siebold's botanical garden. Repaired, the ''Cornelis Houtman'' was refloated. It left for Batavia with 89 crates of Siebold's salvaged botanical collection, but Siebold himself remained behind in Dejima.

Siebold Incident

In 1826 Siebold made the court journey to

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

. During this long trip he collected many plants and animals. But he also obtained from the court astronomer Takahashi Kageyasu several detailed maps of Japan and Korea (written by

Inō Tadataka was a Japanese people, Japanese surveying, surveyor and cartographer. He is known for completing the first map of Japan using modern surveying techniques. Early life Inō was born in the small village of Ozeki in the middle of Kujūkuri beach, ...

), an act strictly forbidden by the Japanese government. When the Japanese discovered, by accident, that Siebold had a map of the northern parts of Japan, the government accused him of high treason and of being a spy for

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The Japanese placed Siebold under house arrest and expelled him from

on 22 October 1829. Satisfied that his Japanese collaborators would continue his work, he journeyed back on the frigate ''Java'' to his former residence, Batavia, in possession of his enormous collection of thousands of animals and plants, his books and his maps. The botanical garden of ' would soon house Siebold's surviving, living flora collection of 2,000 plants. He arrived in the Netherlands on 7 July 1830. His stay in Japan and Batavia had lasted for a period of eight years.

Return to Europe

Philipp Franz von Siebold arrived in the Netherlands in 1830, just at a time when political troubles erupted in

, leading soon to

Belgian independence The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. T ...

. Hastily he salvaged his ethnographic collections in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and his herbarium specimens in Brussels and took them to

, helped by

Johann Baptist Fischer Johann Baptist Fischer, born 1803 in Munich (Germany), died 30 May 1832 in Leiden (the Netherlands) was a German naturalist, zoologist and botanist, doctor and surgeon. Biography Fischer was the son of a Munich schoolmaster, also named Jo ...

. He left behind his botanical collections of living plants that were sent to the University of Ghent. The consequent expansion of this collection of rare and exotic plants led to the horticultural fame of

. In gratitude the University of Ghent presented him in 1841 with specimens of every plant from his original collection. Siebold settled in Leiden, taking with him the major part of his collection. The "Philipp Franz von Siebold collection", containing many

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

s, was the earliest botanical collection from Japan. Even today, it still remains a subject of ongoing research, a testimony to the depth of work undertaken by Siebold. It contained about 12,000 specimens, from which he could describe only about 2,300 species. The whole collection was purchased for a handsome amount by the Dutch government. Siebold was also granted a substantial annual allowance by the Dutch King William II and was appointed ''Advisor to the King for Japanese Affairs''. In 1842, the King even raised Siebold to the nobility as an esquire. The "Siebold collection" opened to the public in 1831. He founded a museum in his home in 1837. This small, private museum would eventually evolve into the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden. Siebold's successor in Japan, Heinrich Bürger, sent Siebold three more shipments of herbarium specimens collected in Japan. This flora collection formed the basis of the Japanese collections of the National Herbarium of the Netherlands in Leiden, while the zoological specimens Siebold collected were kept by the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (''National Museum of Natural History'') in Leiden, which later became Naturalis. Both institutions merged into Naturalis Biodiversity Center in 2010, which now maintains the entire natural history collection that Siebold brought back to Leiden. In 1845 Siebold married Helene von Gagern (1820–1877), they had three sons and two daughters.

Writings

During his stay in Leiden, Siebold wrote ''Nippon'' in 1832, the first part of a volume of a richly illustrated ethnographical and geographical work on Japan. The 'Archiv zur Beschreibung Nippons' also contained a report of his journey to the Shogunate Court at Edo. He wrote six further parts, the last ones published posthumously in 1882; his sons published an edited and lower-priced reprint in 1887. Cephalotaxus pedunculata SZ132

The ' appeared between 1833 and 1841. This work was co-authored by Joseph Hoffmann and Kuo Cheng-Chang, a Javanese of Chinese extraction, who had journeyed along with Siebold from Batavia. It contained a survey of Japanese literature and a Chinese, Japanese and Korean dictionary. Siebold's writing on Japanese religion and customs notably shaped early modern European conceptions of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

; he notably suggested that Japanese Buddhism was a form of

Monotheism Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...

. The zoologists

Coenraad Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temminck ...

(1777–1858), Hermann Schlegel (1804–1884), and Wilhem de Haan (1801–1855) scientifically described and documented Siebold's collection of Japanese animals. The ', a series of monographs published between 1833 and 1850, was mainly based on Siebold's collection, making the Japanese fauna the best-described non-European fauna – "a remarkable feat". A significant part of the ' was also based on the collections of Siebold's successor on Dejima,

. Siebold wrote his ' in collaboration with the German botanist Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini (1797–1848). It first appeared in 1835, but the work was not completed until after his death, finished in 1870 by F.A.W. Miquel (1811–1871), director of the Rijksherbarium in Leiden. This work expanded Siebold's scientific fame from Japan to Europe. From the

Hortus Botanicus Leiden The Hortus botanicus of Leiden is the oldest botanical garden of the Netherlands, and one of the oldest in the world. It is located in the southwestern part of the historical centre of the city, between the Academy building and the old Leiden Obs ...

– the botanical garden of Leiden – many of Siebold's plants spread to Europe and from there to other countries. ''Hosta'' and ''

Hortensia ''Hydrangea'', () commonly named the hortensia, is a genus of over 75 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Korea, and Japan. Most are shrubs tall, ...

'', ''

Azalea Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octob ...

'', and the Japanese butterbur and the coltsfoot as well as the Japanese larch began to inhabit gardens across the world.

International endeavours

After his return to Europe, Siebold tried to exploit his knowledge of Japan. Whilst living in

Boppard Boppard (), formerly also spelled Boppart, is a town and municipality (since the 1976 inclusion of 9 neighbouring villages, ''Ortsbezirken'') in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (Districts of Germany, district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in t ...

, from 1852 he corresponded with Russian diplomats such as Baron von Budberg-Bönninghausen, the Russian ambassador to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

, which resulted in an invitation to go to St Petersburg to advise the Russian government how to open trade relations with Japan. Though still employed by the Dutch government he did not inform the Dutch of this voyage until after his return. American Naval Commodore

Matthew C. Perry Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was a commodore of the United States Navy who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). He played a leading role in the op ...

consulted Siebold in advance of his voyage to Japan in 1854. He notably advised Townsend Harris on how

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

might be spread to Japan, alleging based on his time there that the Japanese "hated" Christianity. In 1858, the Japanese government lifted the banishment of Siebold. He returned to Japan in 1859 as an adviser to the Agent of the Dutch Trading Society (Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij) in Nagasaki, Albert Bauduin. After two years the connection with the Trading Society was severed as the advice of Siebold was considered to be of no value. In Nagasaki he fathered another child with one of his female servants. In 1861 Siebold organised his appointment as an adviser to the Japanese government and went in that function to Edo. There he tried to obtain a position between the foreign representatives and the Japanese government. As he had been specially admonished by the Dutch authorities before going to Japan that he was to abstain from all interference in politics, the Dutch Consul General in Japan, J.K. de Wit, was ordered to ask Siebold's removal. Siebold was ordered to return to Batavia and from there he returned to Europe. After his return he asked the Dutch government to employ him as Consul General in Japan but the Dutch government severed all relations with Siebold who had a huge debt because of loans given to him, except for the payment of his pension. Siebold kept trying to organise another voyage to Japan. After he did not succeed in gaining employment with the Russian government, he went to Paris in 1865 to try to interest the French government in funding another expedition to Japan, but failed. He died in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

on 18 October 1866.

Legacy

Plants named after Siebold

The botanical and horticultural spheres of influence have honored Philipp Franz von Siebold by naming some of the very garden-worthy plants that he studied after him. Examples include: Malus sieboldii D

* ''

Acer sieboldianum ''Acer sieboldianum'' (Siebold's maple; ja, コハウチワカエデ, translit=kohauchiwakaede) is a species of maple native to Japan and common in the forests of Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū Islands; in the south of the range it is ...

'' or Siebold's Maple: a variety of maple native to Japan * '' Calanthe sieboldii'' or Siebold's Calanthe is a terrestrial evergreen orchid native to Japan, the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan. * ''

Clematis florida ''Clematis florida'', the Asian virginsbower, or passion flower clematis, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. It is native to southern China, and has been introduced to Korea and Japan. A perennial vine, in the wild it is ...

'' var. ''sieboldiana'' (syn: ''C. florida'' 'Sieboldii' & ''C. florida'' 'Bicolor'): a somewhat difficult ''Clematis'' to grow "well" but a much sought after plant nevertheless * ''

Corylus sieboldiana The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

'': (Asian beaked hazel) is a species of nut found in northeastern Asia and Japan * ''

Dryopteris sieboldii ''Dryopteris sieboldii'' is a species of fern in the family Dryopteridaceae, native to Japan and south-central and southeast China. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a lon ...

'': a fern with leathery fronds * '' Hosta sieboldii'' of which a large garden may have a dozen quite distinct

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s * '' Magnolia sieboldii'': the under-appreciated small "Oyama" magnolia * ''

Malus sieboldii ''Malus sieboldii'', commonly called Siebold's crab, Siebold's crabapple or Toringo crabapple, is a species of crabapple in the family Rosaceae. Taxonomy Some botanists have reclassified it as ''Malus toringo''. Varieties It is sometimes cons ...

'': the fragrant Toringo Crab-Apple, (originally called ''Sorbus toringo'' by Siebold), whose pink buds fade to white * '' Primula sieboldii'': the Japanese woodland primula ''Sakurasou'' (Chinese/Japanese: 櫻草) * ''

Prunus sieboldii ''Prunus serrulata'' or Japanese cherry is a species of cherry tree that grows naturally in Japan, China, and Korea, and it also refers to a cultivar produced from ''Prunus speciosa'' (Oshima cherry), a cherry tree endemic in Japan.Toshio Katsu ...

'': a flowering cherry * ''

Sedum sieboldii ''Hylotelephium sieboldii'' (syn. ''Sedum sieboldii''), the October stonecrop, Siebold's stonecrop, Siebold's sedum or October daphne, is a species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae, native to Japan. Growing to high by wide, this tr ...

'': a succulent whose leaves form rose-like whorls * ''

Tsuga sieboldii ''Tsuga sieboldii'', also called the southern Japanese hemlock, or in Japanese, simply tsuga (栂), is a conifer native to the Japanese islands of Honshū, Kyūshū, Shikoku and Yakushima. In Europe and North America the tree is sometimes used a ...

'': a Japanese hemlock * '' Viburnum sieboldii'': a deciduous large shrub that has creamy white flowers in spring and red berries that ripen to black in autumn

Animals named after Siebold

*''

Enhydris sieboldii Siebold's water snake (''Ferania sieboldii''), also known commonly as Siebold's mud snake and Siebold's smooth water snake, is a species of mildly venomous, rear-fanged snake in the family Homalopsidae. The species is endemic to Asia. Etymolog ...

'' or Siebold's smooth water snake * A type of

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Haliotidae. Other common name In biology, a common name of a taxon o ...

, ''

Nordotis gigantea ''Haliotis gigantea'', common name the giant abalone, is a species of sea snail, a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalones. It is known as Siebold's Abalone, after Philipp Franz von Siebold.Bouchet, P. (20 ...

'', is known as Siebold's abalone, and is prized for sushi.

Further legacy

Though he is well known in Japan, where he is called "Shiboruto-san", and although mentioned in the relevant schoolbooks, Siebold is almost unknown elsewhere, except among gardeners who admire the many plants whose names incorporate ''sieboldii'' and ''sieboldiana''. The Hortus Botanicus in Leiden has recently laid out the "Von Siebold Memorial Garden", a Japanese garden with plants sent by Siebold. The garden was laid out under a 150-year-old '' Zelkova serrata'' tree dating from Siebold's lifetime. Japanese visitors come and visit this garden, to pay their respect for him.

Siebold museums

Although he was disillusioned by what he perceived as a lack of appreciation for Japan and his contributions to its understanding, a testimony of the remarkable character of Siebold is found in

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

s that honor him. * Japan Museum

SieboldHuis Japan Museum SieboldHuis (Siebold House) is a museum located at the in Leiden, Netherlands. It displays items that were collected by Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866) between 1823 and 1829 during his stay at Dejima, the Dutch trade colony n ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, shows highlights from the Leiden Siebold collections in the transformed, refitted, formal, first house of Siebold in Leiden * Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the National Museum of Natural History in Leiden, Netherlands houses the zoological and botanical specimens Siebold collected during his first stay in Japan (1823-1829). These include 200 mammals, 900 birds, 750 fishes, 170 reptiles, over 5,000 invertebrates, 2,000 different species of plants and 12,000 herbarium specimens. * The National Museum of Ethnology in

houses the large collection which Siebold brought together during his first stay in Japan (1823–1829). * The

State Museum of Ethnology The Museum Five Continents or Five Continents Museum (german: Museum Fünf Kontinente), located in Munich, Germany, is a museum for non-European artworks and objects of cultural value. Its name until 9 September 2014 was Bavarian State Museum of E ...

in Munich, Germany, houses the collection of Philipp Franz von Siebold from his second voyage to Japan (1859–1862) and a letter of Siebold to King Ludwig I in which he urged the monarch to found a museum of ethnology at Munich. Siebold's grave, in the shape of a Buddhist pagoda, is in the ' (Former Southern Cemetery of Munich). He is also commemorated in the name of a street and a large number of mentions in the Botanical Garden at Munich. * A ''Siebold-Museum'' exists in

, Germany. * ''Siebold-Museum'' on ,

Schlüchtern Schlüchtern is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig, approximately 30 km southwest of Fulda. Schlüchtern has a population close to 16,000. Location Schlüchtern is located in the '' Ber ...

, Germany. * Nagasaki, Japan, pays tribute to Siebold by housing the

Siebold Memorial Museum was opened in Nagasaki city in 1989 in honour of Philipp Franz von Siebold's great contributions to the development of modern science in Japan. The building is modeled on his former house in Leiden and is located next to the site of his original c ...

on property adjacent to Siebold's former residence in the Narutaki neighborhood, the first museum dedicated to a non-Japanese in Japan. His collections laid the foundation for the ethnographic museums of Munich and Leiden.

Alexander von Siebold Alexander George Gustav von Siebold (August 16, 1846 – January 1911) was a German translator and interpreter active in Japan during the Bakumatsu period and early Meiji period. He was the eldest son of Japanologist Philipp Franz Balthasar von ...

, one of his sons by his European wife, donated much of the material left behind after Siebold's death in Würzburg to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in London. The Royal Scientific Academy of St. Petersburg purchased 600 colored plates of the '. Another son, Heinrich (or Henry) von Siebold (1852–1908), continued part of his father's research. He is recognized, together with Edward S. Morse, as one of the founders of modern

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

efforts in Japan.

Published works

* (1832–1852) ''Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan und dessen Neben- und Schutzländern: Jezo mit den Südlichen Kurilen, Krafto, Koorai und den Liukiu-Inseln''. 7 volumes, Leiden. ** (1838) ''Voyage au Japon Executé Pendant les Années 1823 a 1830'' – French abridged version of ''Nippon'' – contains 72 plates from ''Nippon'', with a slight variance in size and paper. Published in twelve "Deliveries". Each "Delivery" contains 72 lithographs (plates) and each "Delivery" varies in its lithograph contents by four or five plate variations. ** Revised and enlarged edition by his sons in 1897: ''Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan ..., 2. veränderte und ergänzte Auflage, hrsg. von seinen Söhnen'', 2 volumes, Würzburg and Leipzig. ** Translation of the part of ''Nippon'' on Korea ("Kooraï"): Boudewijn Walraven (ed.), Frits Vos (transl.)
Studies in Early-nineteenth century Leiden''
Korean Histories 2.2, 75-85, 2010 * (1829) ''Synopsis Hydrangeae generis specierum Iaponicarum''. In: ''Nova Acta Physico-Medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolina'' vol 14, part ii. * (1835–1870) (with Zuccarini, J. G. von, editor) ''Flora Japonica''. Leiden. * (1843) (with Zuccarini, J. G. von) ''Plantaram, quas in Japonia collegit'' Dr. Ph. Fr. de Siebold genera nova, notis characteristicis delineationibusque illustrata proponunt. In: ''Abhandelungen der mathematisch-physikalischen Classe der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften'' vol.3, pp 717–750. * (1845) (with Zuccarini, J. G. von) ''Florae Japonicae familae naturales adjectis generum et specierum exemplis selectis. Sectio prima. Plantae Dicotyledoneae polypetalae''. In: ''Abhandelungen der mathematischphysikalischen Classe der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften'' vol. 4 part iii, pp 109–204. * (1846) (with Zuccarini, J. G. von) ''Florae Japonicae familae naturales adjectis generum et specierum exemplis selectis. Sectio altera. Plantae dicotyledoneae et monocotyledonae''. In: ''Abhandelungen der mathematischphysikalischen Classe der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften'' vol. 4 part iii, pp vol 4 pp 123–240. * (1841) (compiled by an anonymous author, not by Siebold himself !) The standard author abbreviation Siebold is used to indicate Philipp Franz von Siebold as the author when citing a botanical name.

Notes

References and other literature

* Brown, Yu-jing
''The von Siebold Collection from Tokugawa, Japan''
pp. 1–55, British Library bl.uk *

Andreas W. Daum Andreas W. Daum is a German-American historian who specializes in modern German and transatlantic history, as well as the history of knowledge and global exploration. Daum received his Ph.D. summa cum laude in 1995 from the Ludwig Maximilian Unive ...

: "German Naturalists in the Pacific around 1800: Entanglement, Autonomy, and a Transnational Culture of Expertise." In ''Explorations and Entanglements: Germans in Pacific Worlds from the Early Modern Period to World War I'', ed. Hartmut Berghoff et al. New York, Berghahn Books, 2019, 70‒102. * Effert, Rudolf Antonius Hermanus Dominique: ''Royal Cabinets and Auxiliary Branches: Origins of the National Museum of Ethnology 1816–1883'', Leiden: CNWS Publications, 2008. Serie: Mededelingen van het Rijksmuseum van Volkenkunde, Leiden, no. 37 * Friese, Eberhard: ''Philipp Franz von Siebold als früher Exponent der Ostasienwissenschaften.'' Berliner Beiträge zur sozial- und wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Japan-Forschung Bd. 15. Bochum 1983 * Reginald Grünenberg: ''Die Entdeckung des Ostpols. Nippon-Trilogie'', Vol. 1 ''Shiborto'' , Vol. 2 ''Geheime Landkarten'', , Vol. 3 ''Der Weg in den Krieg'', , ''Die Entdeckung des Ostpols. Nippon-Trilogie.Gesamtausgabe'' ('Complete Edition'), , Perlen Verlag 2014; English resume of the novel o
www.east-pole.com
* Richtsfeld, Bruno J.: Philipp Franz von Siebolds Japansammlung im Staatlichen Museum für Völkerkunde München. In: Miscellanea der Philipp Franz von Siebold Stiftung 12, 1996, pp. 34–54. * Richtsfeld, Bruno J.: Philipp Franz von Siebolds Japansammlung im Staatlichen Museum für Völkerkunde München. In: 200 Jahre Siebold, hrsg. von Josef Kreiner. Tokyo 1996, pp. 202–204. * Richtsfeld, Bruno J.: Die Sammlung Siebold im Staatlichen Museum für Völkerkunde, München. In: Das alte Japan. Spuren und Objekte der Siebold-Reisen. Herausgegeben von Peter Noever. München 1997, p. 209f. * Richtsfeld, Bruno J.: Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796–1866). Japanforscher, Sammler und Museumstheoretiker. In: Aus dem Herzen Japans. Kunst und Kunsthandwerk an drei Flüssen in Gifu. Herausgegeben von dem Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst Köln und dem Staatlichen Museum für Völkerkunde München. Köln, München 2004, pp. 97–102.
Thijsse, Gerard: ''Herbarium P.F. von Siebold, 1796–1866'', 1999, Brill.com
* Yamaguchi, T., 1997. ''Von Siebold and Japanese Botany''. Calanus Special number I. * Yamaguchi, T., 2003. ''How did Von Siebold accumulate botanical specimens in Japan?'' Calanus Special number V.

External links

* *

* ttp://edb.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/exhibit/b05/b05cont.html ''Fauna Japonica''– University of Kyoto
''Flora Japonica''
– University of Kyoto

* Website dedicated to the German nove
''Die Entdeckung des Ostpols''

Siebold Huis
– a museum in the house where Siebold lived in Leiden * Th

in Würzburg * Th
Siebold-Museum
on Brandenstein castle, Schlüchtern
Siebold's ''Nippon'', 1897

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siebold, Philipp Franz Balthazar Von 1796 births 1866 deaths Botanists active in Japan Botanists with author abbreviations 19th-century German botanists German carcinologists German expatriates in Japan German Japanologists German male non-fiction writers Scientists from Würzburg