Johann, or Jean-Frederic, Hermann, or Herrmann, (31 December 1738 in Barr,

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

– 4 October 1800 in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

) was a French

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 ...

and naturalist. In 1769 he was appointed professor of medicine at the School of Public Health of Strasbourg, then, in 1778, professor of philosophy, before going on, in 1784, to succeed Jacob Reinbold Spielmann as chair of chemistry, natural history and materia medica. In 1794 he became professor of botany and materia medica in the new School of Medicine. He was the author of ''Tabula affinitatum animalium '' (1783) and ''Observationes zoologicae quibus novae complures'', published posthumously in 1804. His collections and library of 18,000 volumes formed the basis of the Natural History Museum of Strasbourg, where a reconstruction of his natural history cabinet was opened in 1988 . Hermann was also in charge of Strasbourg's botanical garden, where he was responsible for a large increase in the number of living plant species. The garden was threatened with closure by the city administration during the French Revolution, and was only saved by the efforts of Hermann. His zoological collection, including 200 mammals, 900 birds, more than 200 reptiles, many fish, invertebrates and dried plants, was bought by the city of Strasbourg in 1804 and served as the base for the Strasbourg zoological Museum. Musée zoologique cabinet d'histoire naturelle

Musée zoologique cabinet d'histoire naturelle

His brother, Jean-Frédéric Hermann (1743–1820), Professor of Law, was a member of the Lower Rhine and Mayor of Strasbourg. His son,

Jean-Frédéric Hermann Jean-Frédéric Hermann (Strasbourg 1768–1793) was a French physician and naturalist mainly interested in entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and ...

(1768–1793), would follow in his footsteps both in medicine and in natural history, until his untimely death during the revolutionary wars put an end to his ambitions. Hermann's name survives most famously through

Hermann's tortoise Hermann's tortoise (''Testudo hermanni'') is a species of tortoise. Two subspecies are known: the western Hermann's tortoise (''T. h. hermanni'' ) and the eastern Hermann's tortoise (''T. h. boettgeri'' ). Sometimes mentioned as a subspecies ...

(''Testudo hermanni'' ).Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Hermann", p. 121).

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Further reading