Franz de Paula Adam Norbert Wenzel Ludwig Valentin von Waldstein (14 February 1759 – 24 May 1823) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n soldier, explorer and naturalist. A member of the noble

Waldstein family The House of Waldstein or House of Valdštejn is a Bohemian noble family that originated from the Kingdom of Bohemia as a branch of the Markwartinger family (House of Markvartic) and gained prominence during the reign of the Přemyslid dynasty. ...

, he was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, the third son of Count Emanuel Philibert von Waldstein-Wartenberg (1731–1775) and his wife Maria Anna Theresia von

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

. His younger brother Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel von Waldstein (1762–1823) became known as patron of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

. Waldstein married Karolina Ferdinandi (1777–1844). As a soldier he took part in Habsburg campaigns against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. From 1789, he studied the botany of Hungary with

Pál Kitaibel Pál Kitaibel (3 February 1757 – 13 December 1817) was a Hungarian botanist and chemist. He was born at Nagymarton (today Mattersburg, Austria) and studied botany and chemistry at the University of Buda. In 1794 he became Professor and t ...

. His herbarium is archived in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. Together with Kitaibel 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 1814, Waldstein was appointed member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He died at his manor in

Litvínov Litvínov (; german: Leutensdorf) is a town in Most District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. It is known as an industrial centre. Administrative parts Litvínov is made up of 12 town parts an ...

(german: Oberleutensdorf), Bohemia. The genus

Waldsteinia ''Waldsteinia'', the barren strawberries, is a genus of the rose family ( Rosaceae). It contains about six species native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. A number of species are cultivated as a ground cover in gardens, including '' Walds ...

( Rosaceae) was named after him by Carl Ludwig von Willdenow, as well as a '' Campanula'' (bellflower) species (''Campanula waldsteiniana'') by

Josef August Schultes Josef (Joseph) August Schultes (15 April 1773 in Vienna – 21 April 1831 in Landshut) was an Austrian botanist and professor from Vienna. Together with Johann Jacob Roemer (1763–1819), he published the 16th edition of Linnaeus' ''System ...

References

External links

Detailed biography

Franz de Paula Adam Graf von Waldstein and Paul Kitaibel, ''Descriptiones et icones plantarum rariorum Hungariae'' on DIGITUM: Depósito Digital Institucional de la Universidad de Murcia.
---- ---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Waldstein, Franz de Paula Adam von 18th-century Austrian botanists Austrian explorers Austrian soldiers 1759 births 1823 deaths Bohemian nobility Scientists from Vienna Franz de Paula Adam 19th-century Austrian botanists 18th-century explorers 19th-century explorers