Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck | |
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 Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in 1855 | |
| Born | Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (1776-02-14)14 February 1776 Schloss Reichenberg,Reichelsheim (Odenwald),Hesse, Germany |
| Died | 16 March 1858(1858-03-16) (aged 82) Breslau |
| Alma mater | University of Jena |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany, Zoology, Medicine |
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolificGermanbotanist,physician,zoologist, andnatural philosopher. He was a contemporary ofGoethe and was born within the lifetime ofLinnaeus. He described approximately 7,000 plant species (almost as many as Linnaeus himself). His last official act as president of theGerman Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina was to admitCharles Darwin as a member. He was the author of numerous monographs on botany and zoology and majority of his best-known works deal withfungi.
Nees von Esenbeck was born inSchloss Reichenberg nearReichelsheim (Odenwald) inHesse, Germany. He showed an early interest in science and, after receiving his primary education inDarmstadt, went on to theUniversity of Jena and obtained his degree inbiology (natural history) andmedicine in 1800. He practiced as a physician forFrancis I (Erbach-Erbach), but he had developed a great interest in botany during his university studies which caused him to return toacademia.[citation needed] In 1816, he joined theLeopoldina Academy, which was one of the most prestigious institutions in Europe. In 1817, he was appointed professor of botany at theUniversity of Erlangen. Three years later, he became professor of natural history at theUniversity of Bonn, where he established theBotanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. In 1831, he was appointed as a chair of botany department at theUniversity of Breslau.[1] In 1818, he was elected president of the Leopoldina Academy. He continued as president of the academy for the rest of his life.In botany he achieved notoriety for his contributions to the familiesAcanthaceae andLauraceae.[citation needed]
He also became politically active in theGerman revolutions of 1848–1849. In 1851, due to conflicts with the government, he was deprived of his professorship and pension at Breslau. Seven years later, Nees von Esenbeck died essentially penniless in Breslau. He was an older brother to botanistTheodor Friedrich Ludwig Nees von Esenbeck (1787–1837).[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Nees von Esenbeck, Christian Gottfried".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 342.
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