Joakim Frederik Schouw | |
|---|---|
.jpg) C. A: Jensen:J. F. Schouw, 1836 | |
| Born | (1789-02-07)7 February 1789 Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Died | 28 April 1852(1852-04-28) (aged 63) Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Alma mater | University of Copenhagen |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Lawyer,botanist |
Joakim Frederik Schouw (7 February 1789 – 28 April 1852) was a Danishlawyer,botanist andpolitician. From 1821, professor inbotany at theUniversity of Copenhagen — first extraordinary professor, but after the death ofJ.W. Hornemann in 1841 ordinary. His main scientific field was the new discipline ofphytogeography. He also served as director ofCopenhagen Botanical Garden in 1841-1852. He was a leading figure in theNational Liberal movement and president of theDanish Constituent Assembly in 1848.
Schouw was born on 7 February 1789 inCopenhagen, the son of wine merchant Paul S. (1751–1800) and Sara Georgia Liebenberg (1761–1826). He studied law at theUniversity of Copenhagen.[1]
He was already alawyer when he in the summer of 1812 travelled toNorway with the NorwegianbotanistChristen Smith. On this journey, he was strongly impressed with the conspicuous zonal division of the mountainvegetation and distribution of plant species in relation toaltitude. Back inCopenhagen, he attended the lectures given byMartin Vahl andJ.W. Hornemann. While earning for his living as a lawyer, he delved into the copious literature onplant geography, e.g. byWahlenberg andvon Humboldt. The first result of his efforts was a doctoral dissertation (1816):Dissertatio de sedibus plantarum originariis. In this thesis, he dealt with the question ofGeneratio aequivoca, that is the origin of species through continuous evolution, a view he advocated.
He was then given a travel grant to studyphytogeography in SouthernEurope and to visitA. P. de Candolle inGeneva. The expectations of his scientific potential were so great that KingFrederik VI granted him an extraordinary professorship ofbotany at theUniversity of Copenhagen.In 1822, his most significant contribution was published:
His later scientific contributions turned out to be rather meagre. He planned a great work and gathered material for it during two journeys toItaly. However, he never had time to continue his work. Together withJens Vahl andSalomon Drejer, Schouw was the publisher ofFlora Danica fasc. 38.
He succeededJens Wilken Hornemann as director ofCopenhagen Botanical Garden in 1841-1852. In 1841, he was elected a foreign member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
In the 1830s and 1840s, Schouw was one of the main leaders of the political movement that led to the firstdemocraticconstitution ofDenmark, theJune Constitution of 1849. The king appointed him as a representative for the university for the first Roskilde Provincial Assembly in 1834 (a, a recognition of the growing importance of the liberal movement (but he belonged to the moderate wing), where he was immediately elected as its president with 37 votes against 18 votes toLauritz Nicolai Hvidt and 11 votes to the Conservative bishopJ. P. Münster. He was later reelected at Viborg Provincial Assembly with all votes against one and was reelected until 1840 when he was no longerappointed by the king, probably as a result of the government's discontent with his claim of the Provincial Assembly's independence. He was much engaged inScandinavism and in theSchleswig-Holstein Question. He was a member of the 1848 Danish Constituent Assembly but refused to become a minister because he, unlike the government, favoured the division ofSchleswig.
He publishedDansk Ugeskrift in 1831–36 and again 1842–46, followed byDansk Tidsskrift 1847–50.
_Marie_Augustine_Peschier_Dalgas.jpg)
Schouw married Susanne (Susette) Marie Augustine Peschier Dalgas, (1798-1844), a daughter of priest at the French Reformed Church inFredericia Jean Marc Dalgar (1756–1811). They first met each other in her brother Christian Dalgas' home inLivorno. Schouw's travel companion, Henrik Stampe, married another Dalgas sister, Christine, who was also there at the time. The wedding took place on 24 April 1827 in Christiansborg Chapel in Copenhagen.[3]
Schouw had an official residence inCharlottenborg after his appointment to professor and director of the botanical garden in 1841. The botanical garden was then located next to the building. The livelyGrundtvegian home was frequented by many visitors from the Danish world of culture, His daughterGeorgia married the painterP. C. Skovgaard.
Schouw was a member of the Committee for the Establishment ofThorvaldsens Museum and served as one of the executors ofBertel Thorvaldsens will and gift letter to the city of Copenhagen. He was also a board member of the museum.[3]
Herman Wilhelm Bissen created a bust of Schouw in 1851. A bronze cast of the bust was in 1856 installed outside the University of Copenhagen's main building onFrue Plads. It was the first sculpture of a non-aristocratic person in the public real in Copenhagen.[4]
He died on 28 April 1852 and is buried atAssistens Cemetery.
In 1896, botanistAugustin-Pyramus de Candolle publishedSchouwia, amonotypic genus offlowering plants from Northern Africa, belonging to the familyBrassicaceae and named in Joakim Frederik Schouw's honor.[5]
Christensen, Carl (1932) Joakim Frederik Schouw, pp. 100–103 in: Meisen, V. Prominent Danish Scientists through the Ages. University Library of Copenhagen 450th Anniversary. Levin & Munksgaard, Copenhagen.
