Christen Friis Rottbøll (3 March 1727, at Hørbygård, Denmark – 15 June 1797, in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

) was a Danish

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

: He was a pupil of

Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

Early life

Rottbøll was born on the Hørbygaard estate at Holbæk, the son of Christen Michelsen Rottbøll (died 1729) and Margrethe Cathrine Friis. His father was the manager of the estate but died in 1729. His mother was married second time to manager of

Hagestedgaard Hagestedgaard is a manor house and estate located at the village of Hagested, near Holbæk, Holbæk Municipality, some 60 kilometres west of Copenhagen, Denmark. The estate traces its history back to the 13th century but the current asymmetrical ...

Ole Nielsen Faxøe.

Education and career

Rottbøll studied at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

, first

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, then

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

, in which he took his doctorate degree in 1755 (''De morbis deuteropathicis seu Sympathier''). He then travelled abroad 1757–1761 to further his studies of

, and to study

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

– the latter subject at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

with

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

. From 1761, he was executive at the

Botanic Garden 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. is ...

, and succeeded Georg Christian Oeder as its director in 1770. He was appointed professor at the Chair of

Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

in 1776 and received the title of "royal adviser" (''konferensråd'') in 1784.

Work on smallpox

As a medical doctor, he studied

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

and reformed the

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 ...

programme that had run in

since 1755. He abolished pre and post treatment and instead advised systematic weakening of the inoculum before application.

Botany

As a botanist, Rottbøll gave out the first comprehensive list of the Flora of Greenland, he published descriptions of plants from the Danish colonies in India collected by Johann Gerhard König, and similarly of plants from

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

collected by Daniel Rolander. Corresponding with Lorenz Praetorius (1708-1781) of the Danish

Moravian Church The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...

, Rottbøll also solicited the collection of plant specimens in 1766 by Moravians in North America.See, especially, Manuscript list of American plants, to be collected by the Brethren and sent to Professor Friis in Copenhagen, 1766, BethCong 428
Moravian Archives
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Rottbøll named the plant

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Rolandra'' (

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

) after Rolander and the

'' Kyllinga'' (

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 ...

) after Peder Kylling.

Carolus Linnaeus the Younger Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Carolus Linnaeus the Younger, Carl von Linné den yngre (Swedish language, Swedish; abbreviated Carl von Linné d. y.), or ''Linnaeus filius'' (Latin for ''Linnaeus the son''; abbreviated L.fil. (outdated) or L.f. (mo ...

named the

'' Rottboellia'' (

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

) after him.

Personal life

Rottbøll married three times. His first wife was Ursula Schnabel (1732-1767), a daughter of rector Bernhard Schnabel (1691–1754) and Sophie Rasmusdatter (1700–52). They married on 10 May 1762 in

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

. His second wife was Johanne Elisabeth Mangor (1740-1771), a daughter of pharmacist Christopher Heerfordt Mangor (1704–82) and Anna Saur (c. 1715–83). They married on 18 May 1768 in Trinitatis Church in Copenhagen. His third wife was Catharina Hedvig Wohlert (1750-1811), a daughter of turner Daniel Jacob Wohlert. They married on 29 September 1777 in Schleswig.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rottboll, Christen Friis 18th-century Danish botanists 18th-century Danish physicians University of Copenhagen alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen 1727 births 1797 deaths People from Holbæk Municipality Rectors of the University of Copenhagen Burials at the Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen