View source for Biography:Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck

{{short description|Prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher (1776–1858)}}
[[Image:Nees von esenbeck 1855.jpg|thumb|right|Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in 1855]]

'''Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck''' (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific {{wipe|Germany}} botanist, [[Medicine:Physician|physician]], zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of [[Biography:Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]]. He described approximately 7,000 plant species (almost as many as Linnaeus himself). His last official act as president of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina was to admit [[Biography:Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin]] as a member. He was the author of numerous monographs on botany and zoology. His best-known works deal with [[Biology:Fungi|fungi]].

==Biography==
Nees von Esenbeck was born in Schloss Reichenberg near Reichelsheim (Odenwald). He showed an early interest in science and, after receiving his primary education in Darmstadt, he went on to the University of Jena, obtaining his degree in [[Biology:Biology|biology]] (natural history) and [[Medicine:Medicine|medicine]] in 1800. He practiced as a physician for Francis I (Erbach-Erbach), but he had developed a great interest in botany during his university studies, and eventually he returned to academia.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} In 1816 he joined the Leopoldina Academy, which was one of the most prestigious institutions in Europe. In 1817 he was appointed professor of botany at the University of Erlangen. Three years later he became professor of natural history at the [[Organization:University of Bonn|University of Bonn]], where he established the Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, and in 1831 he was appointed to the chair of botany at the University of Breslau.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} 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, among other things, contributions to the families [[Biology:Acanthaceae|Acanthaceae]] and [[Biology:Lauraceae|Lauraceae]].

He became politically active in the German 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 botanist Theodor Friedrich Ludwig Nees von Esenbeck (1787–1837).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

{{botanist|Nees|Nees von Esenbeck, Christian Gottfried Daniel|border=0}}

==Honours==
In 1936, botanist Wilhelm Kirschstein published ''[[Biology:Myconeesia|Myconeesia]]'', a genus of [[Biology:Fungi|fungi]] in the family [[Biology:Xylariaceae|Xylariaceae]] and named in his honour.<ref >{{cite web |url=http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/myconet/outline.asp |title=Myconet |format= |accessdate=2009-04-21}}</ref> In 1940, botanist Pilg. published ''[[Biology:Neesiochloa|Neesiochloa]]'' is a [[Biology:Genus|genus]] of {{wipe|Brazil}}ian plants in the [[Biology:Poaceae|grass family]], in Nees von Esenbeck's honour.<ref>Pilger, Robert Knud Friedrich 1940. ''Neesiochloa'' eine neue Gramineengattung aus Brasilien. Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis 48: 119–120</ref><ref>[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40025863 Tropicos, ''Neesiochloa'' Pilg.]</ref><ref>[http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db/www/gen00408.htm Grassbase - The World Online Grass Flora]</ref> Then in 1947, botanist Margaret Rutherford Bryan Levyns published ''[[Biology:Neesenbeckia|Neesenbeckia]]'', a monotypic genus of [[Biology:Flowering plant|flowering plant]]s from South Africa, belonging to the family [[Biology:Cyperaceae|Cyperaceae]], in Nees von Esenbeck's honour.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Neesenbeckia'' Levyns {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:13926-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=27 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

== Works ==
* ''Die Algen des süßen Wassers, nach ihren Entwickelungsstufen dargestellt (1814)
* ''Das System der Pilze und Schwämme'' (1816)
* ''Vorlesungen zur Entwickelungsgeschichte des magnetischen Schlafs und Traums'' (1820)
* ''Handbuch der Botanik. Band 1'' (1820) [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-13244 Digital edition] by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
* ''Handbuch der Botanik. Band 2'' (1821) [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-13118 Digital edition] by the University and State Library Düsseldorf
* ''Bryologia germanica'' (with [[Biography:Christian Friedrich Hornschuch|Christian Friedrich Hornschuch]] und Jacob Sturm, 1823–31, 2 Bände mit 43 Tafeln)
* ''Plantarum, in Horto medico Bonnensi nutritarum, Icones selectae'' (1824) [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:2-20003 Digital edition] by the University and State Library Düsseldorf  
* ''Agrostologia brasiliensis'' (1829)
* ''Genera Plantarum Florae Germanicae'' (1831–1860)
* ''Genera et species Asterearum'' (1833)
* ''Naturgeschichte der europäischen Lebermoose mit Erinnerungen aus dem Riesengebirge'' (1833-38, 4 Bände)
* ''Hymenopterorum Ichneumonibus affinium monographiae'' (1834, 2 Bände)
* ''System der spekulativen Philosophie'', Band 1
*'' Systema Laurinarum'' (1836)
* ''Florae Africae australioris illustration monographicae Gramineae'' (1841)
* ''Die Naturphilosophie'' (1841)
* ''De Cinnamomo disputatio'' (1843)
* ''Synopsis hepaticarum'' (with [[Biography:Carl Moritz Gottsche|Carl Moritz Gottsche]] und [[Biography:Johann Bernhard Wilhelm Lindenberg|Johann Lindenberg]], 1844–1847)
*''Die allgemeine Formenlehre der Natur'' (1852)

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
* Jahn: Geschichte der Biologie. Spektrum 2000
* Karl Mägdefrau: Geschichte der Botanik. Fischer 1992
* Bohley, Johanna: ''Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck'': ein Lebensbild. – Stuttgart: Wissenschaftl. VG, 2003. – {{ISBN|3-8047-2075-7}}
* Engelhardt, Dietrich von (Hrsg.): ''Christian Gottfried Nees von Esenbeck'': Politik und Naturwissenschaft in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts. – Stuttgart: Wissenschaftl. VG, 2004. – {{ISBN|3-8047-2153-2}}

==External links==
* http://www.nees-von-esenbeck.de/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909044837/http://www.nees-von-esenbeck.de/ |date=2019-09-09 }} (German language site devoted to Nees von Esenbeck; includes extensive biography)
* {{cite web | title=History | url=http://www.nees.uni-bonn.de/histor.html | publisher=Nees-Institut für Biodiversität der Pflanzen | access-date=2008-07-24 | language=de | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611200758/http://www.nees.uni-bonn.de/histor.html | archive-date=2007-06-11 }}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Nees von Esenbeck, Christian Gottfried Daniel}}
[[Category:Bryologists]]
[[Category:Pteridologists]]

{{Sourceattribution|Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck}}