Theodor Friedrich Ludwig Nees von Esenbeck (26 July 1787 – 12 December 1837) was a German botanist and

pharmacologist Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemic ...

, who was born in Schloss Reichenberg near Reichelsheim (Odenwald). He was a younger brother to naturalist

Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific Germany, German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Carl Li ...

(1776–1858).

Career

In 1805 Nees von Esenbeck was an apprentice to pharmacist Wilhelm Martius in

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inhab ...

, and in 1811 moved to

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, where he worked for the

Bernoulli family The Bernoulli family () of Basel was a patrician family, notable for having produced eight mathematically gifted academics who, among them, contributed substantially to the development of mathematics and physics during the early modern period. ...

at the ''Goldenen Apotheke''. In 1817 his friend,

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

Heinrich Kuhl Heinrich Kuhl (17 September 1797 – 14 September 1821) was a German naturalist and zoologist. Kuhl was born in Hanau (Hesse, Germany). Between 1817 and 1820, he was the assistant of professor Th. van Swinderen, docent natural history at the ...

(1797–1821) procured an assignment for him at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

as a reader of botany, and shortly afterwards, with the help of botanist

Sebald Justinus Brugmans Sebald Justinus Brugmans (24 March 1763, Franeker – 22 July 1819, Leiden) was a Dutch botanist and physician. He was the son of naturalist Anton Brugmans (1732-1789). Brugmans studied philosophy, mathematics and physics at the Universities ...

(1763–1819), he held a position at the

botanical gardens 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 ...

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 wi ...

. In 1818 he earned his doctorate at the university, and subsequently moved to

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, where he worked at the botanical gardens. In 1827 he attained the title of "full professor" at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

, where he was a colleague of Ludolph Christian Treviranus (1779–1864). Nees von Esenbeck died in

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered arou ...

. Nees von Esenbeck is largely remembered for pharmacological analysis and

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of various medicinal plants. In the mid-1830s, with Philipp Wilhelm Wirtgen (1806–1870) and

Ludwig Clamor Marquart Ludwig Clamor Marquart (29 March 1804 – 10 May 1881) was a German pharmacist and entrepreneur born in Osnabrück. As a teenager, he was a pharmacist’s apprentice in the town of Dissen, and afterwards an assistant pharmacist in Lingen and We ...

(1804–1881), he was co-founder of the ''Botanischer Verein am Mittel- und Niederrhein'' (Botanical Society of the Middle and Lower Rhine). The plant genus ''Neesia'' in the subfamily

Bombacoideae Bombacoideae is a subfamily of the mallow family, Malvaceae. It contains herbaceous and woody plants. Their leaves are alternate, commonly palmately lobed, with small and caducous stipules. The flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic; the c ...

was named after him by botanist

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796, Braunschweig – 3 February 1862, Leiden) was a German- Dutch botanist. He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his professional life wor ...

(1796–1862).M-Q by Umberto Quattrocchi
Neesia

Selected writings

* ''Plantae officinales, oder Sammlung officineller Pflanzen'',

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

(1821–1833). * ''Sammlung schön blühender Gewächse in lithographierten Abbildungen, für Blumen- und Gartenfreunde'', Düsseldorf (1825–1831) - Collection 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 in

lithographic Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

illustrations, for flower and garden devotees. * ''Handbuch der medicinisch-pharmaceutischen Botanik'', Düsseldorf (1830–1832); edited with CH Ebermaier - Handbook of medico-botany

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field an ...

s. * ''Plantae medicinales'', Düsseldorf 1833 * ''Genera Plantarum Florae Germanicae'', Bonn 1833–1838. * ''Das System der Pilze'', Bonn 1837 - System of

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nees Von Esenbeck, Theodor Friedrich Ludwig 1787 births 1837 deaths People from Odenwaldkreis 19th-century German botanists German pharmacologists Leiden University alumni University of Bonn faculty