Friedrich August Flückiger (also spelled Flueckiger; 15 May 1828 - 11 December 1894) was a Swiss

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

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 born on 15 May 1828, in

Langenthal Langenthal is a town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Oberaargau (administrative district), Oberaargau in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipality of Untersteckholz merged into the ...

canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

. Flückiger studied chemistry at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

(1845–47), afterwards teaching pharmacy classes in

Solothurn Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains. The town is ...

. In 1850 he studied botany at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

, followed by studies at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. He was the

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

of the botanical name ''

Boswellia sacra ''Boswellia sacra'', also known as ''Boswellia carteri'' and others, and commonly called the frankincense tree or the olibanum tree, is a tree in the genus '' Boswellia,'' in the Burseraceae family, from which frankincense, a resinous dried sap ...

'', a tree native to

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

that is a major source of

frankincense Frankincense, also known as olibanum (), is an Aroma compound, aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus ''Boswellia'' in the family (biology), family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality in ...

. From 1853 to 1859, Flückiger was director of ''Grosse Apotheke'', a pharmacy he owned in Burgdorf. In 1870 he became an associate professor of pharmacy and

pharmacognosy Pharmacognosy is the interdisciplinary scientific study of natural drugs and bioactive compounds from plants, animals, and minerals—originally focused on identifying crude drugs but now expanded to molecular, chemical, ecological, and medicin ...

at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

, and from 1873 to 1892 was a professor of pharmacy in

Strassburg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. From 1857 to 1866 Flückiger was president of the ''Schweizerischen Apothekervereins'' (Swiss Pharmacists Association). During his career he obtained honorary doctorates from the Universities of

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

. Flückiger was the author of about 300 scientific works, and along with contributions made in

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

, is remembered for his pioneer investigations in the field of pharmaceutical history. He is credited for providing important input to the second edition of the "Pharmacopoeia Helvetica" (1872). The Flückiger medal was created The Flückiger medal was established at his retirement in 1892 by friends and admirers, who invested a fund intended to be used "for the advancement of pharmacy in its broadest sense". This fund is awarded every 5 years, alternatively by the German Association of pharmacists and its Swiss counterpart. The first three recipients were Edward Morell Holmes (1897), Schmidt (professor at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

, 1902) and Édouard Heckel (1907). Flückiger died on 11 December 1894 in

Bern, Switzerland Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Written works

* ''Beiträge zur altern Geschichte der Pharmacie in Bern'', 1862 * "Pharmacographia; a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin, met with in Great Britain and

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

" (19 editions published between 1874 and 1986 in English). * ''Documente zur Geschichte der Pharmacie'', 1876 * ''Pharmaceutische Chemie'', 1879 (Vol.1&2
Digital edition
by the

University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

* ''Pharmakognosie des Pflanzenreiches'', 1883 * ''Grundlagen der Pharmakognosie'', 1884, with Alexander Tschirch (1856-1939). * ''The Chinona Barks : Pharmacognostically Considered. With 8 lithographic plates and one wood-cut'' . Blakiston, Philadelphia 188
Digital edition
by the

* "The principles of pharmacognosy; an introduction to the study of the crude substances of the vegetable kingdom" (5 editions published between 1885 and 1887 in English and German). * "Reactions. A selection of organic chemical preparations important to pharmacy in regards to their behavior to commonly used

reagents In chemistry, a reagent ( ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms ''reactant'' and ''reagent'' are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a ...

" (1893 in English).Google Books
Grundlagen der Pharmakognosie * ''Grundriss der Pharmakognosie'' . Gaertner, Berlin 2. Aufl. 189
Digital edition
by the

References

Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz
(biography) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fluckiger, Friedrich August People from Langenthal Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg Academic staff of the University of Bern Swiss pharmacists Swiss Protestants 19th-century Swiss botanists 19th-century Swiss chemists 1828 births 1894 deaths