Johann Georg Gmelin | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1709-08-08)8 August 1709 |
| Died | 20 May 1755(1755-05-20) (aged 45) Tübingen, Duchy of Württemberg, Holy Roman Empire |
| Other names | Ioanne Georgio Gmelin, Иоганн Георг Гмелин |
| Education | University of Tübingen |
| Occupation(s) | Physicist and botanist |
| Known for | Exploring Siberia |
| Relatives | Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin (nephew) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Russian Academy of Sciences University of St. Petersburg University of Tübingen |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | J.G.Gmel. |
Johann Georg Gmelin (8 August 1709 – 20 May 1755) was a Germannaturalist,botanist andgeographer.
Gmelin was born inTübingen, the son of aprofessor at theUniversity of Tübingen.[1] He was a gifted child and began attending university lectures at the age of 14. In 1727, he graduated with amedical degree at the age of 18. He then travelled toSt Petersburg and obtained a fellowship at theAcademy of Sciences in 1728. He lectured at theuniversity from 1730, and in the following year was appointed professor ofchemistry andnatural history.[1]
At his suggestion,Johann Amman leftHans Sloane in London to take up a post in St Petersburg. The final two volumes ofJohann Christian Buxbaum's (1693–1730)Centuria were published posthumously by Gmelin.[2]
Gmelin was elected one out of three professors to joinVitus Bering’sSecond Kamchatka Expedition (1733–1743). During the early part of the expedition - leavingSt Petersburg in August 1733 - he was accompanied by the young studentStepan Krasheninnikov. They travelled together through theUral Mountains and westernSiberia toYeniseysk. He described the position of theYenisey river as a boundary betweenEurope andAsia and participated in measuring the lowesttemperature ever recorded atYeniseysk. He was also the first person to measure the fact that the level of theCaspian Sea was below that of theMediterranean Sea. He eventually reachedBering’s headquarters atYakutsk in September 1736. Unfortunately, Gmelin's residence burned on November 8, destroying all hisnatural history collections and notes plus part of his library. The subsequent summer, he made as many re-collections of specimens as possible to replace the loss. HisFlora Sibirica (1747–1769)[3] was based on his observations and collections. It contains descriptions of 1178 species, 294 of which he illustrated. His nephewSamuel Gottlieb Gmelin assisted him in editing the final two volumes. A fifth volume ofFlora Sibirica, mainly oncryptogams, was written byStepan Krasheninnikov, but was never printed. Gmelin also described the journey in hisReise durch Sibirien von dem Jahr 1733 bis 1743 (1751–1752).[4]
Gmelin returned to theUniversity of Tübingen in 1747 and becameprofessor ofmedicine and, in 1751, director of theuniversity's botanic garden. His travel description[4] was published there. It was translated toFrench andDutch, but not toRussian,"because it contained uncomplimentary observations and comments on Russians".[1]
Gmelin was elected a foreign member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1749.
The plantgenusGmelina (Lamiaceae) and several dozen plant and animal species are named after him. Although possibly some are named afterJohann Friedrich Gmelin.[5]
"Гмелины" .Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.