Eduard Adolf Strasburger (1 February 1844 – 18 May 1912) was a Polish- German professor and one of the most famous

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 ...

s of the 19th century. He discovered

mitosis Mitosis () is a part of the cell cycle in eukaryote, eukaryotic cells in which replicated chromosomes are separated into two new Cell nucleus, nuclei. Cell division by mitosis is an equational division which gives rise to genetically identic ...

in plants.

Life

Eduard Strasburger was born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

, the son of Anna Karoline (von Schütz) and Eduard Gottlieb Strasburger (1803–1874)."Eduard STRASBURGER ward 1844 in Warschau als ältester Sohn des Kaufmannes EDUARD GOTTLIEB STRASBURGER und seiner Frau ANNA KAROLINE geb. V. SCHÜTZ geboren. Die Vorfahren beider Eltern waren seinerzeit mit den sächsischen Königen nach Polen gegangen.
Nachrufe. Eduard Strasburger. Von Gr. Karsten
zobodat.atKlaus Oskar Leyde: Strasburger. In: Deutsches Geschlechterbuch Band 207 (56. Allgemeiner Band), C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg 1998, S. 227–242. In 1870, he married Alexandra Julia ("Alexandrine") Wertheim (1847–1902), they had two children: Anna (1870–1942) and Julius (1871–1934). Strasburger studied

biological sciences Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

, receiving a PhD in 1866 after working with Nathanael Pringsheim. In 1868 he taught at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. In 1869 he was appointed professor of

botany 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 ...

at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. From 1881 he was head of the ''Botanisches Institut'' at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. Strasburger died in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Achievements

Strasburge was a founder of the famous ''Lehrbuch der Botanik für Hochschulen'' (''Textbook of Botany''), which first appeared in 1894. He was the first to provide an accurate description of the embryonic sac in

gymnosperms The gymnosperms ( ; ) are a group of woody, perennial Seed plant, seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include Pinophyta, conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetoph ...

(such as

conifers Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

) and

angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. T ...

(flowering plants), along with demonstrating double-fertilization in angiosperms. He came up with one of the modern laws of plant

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

: "New cell nuclei can only arise from the division of other nuclei." and originated the terms

cytoplasm The cytoplasm describes all the material within a eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, including the organelles and excluding the nucleus in eukaryotic cells. The material inside the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell a ...

and

nucleoplasm The nucleoplasm, also known as karyoplasm, is the type of protoplasm that makes up the cell nucleus, the most prominent organelle of the eukaryotic cell. It is enclosed by the nuclear envelope, also known as the nuclear membrane. The nucleoplasm r ...

. Together with Walther Flemming and Edouard van Beneden, he elucidated chromosome distribution during cell division. His work on the upward movement of tree sap proved that the process was physical and not physiological.

Awards

He was awarded the Linnean Medal in 1905, as well as the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

's even more prestigious Darwin-Wallace Medal in 1908, awarded only once every 50 years.

Family

Strasburger was married to the pianist Alexandra Julie ("Alexandrine") Wertheim (1847–1902, daughter of the banker and councillor Julius Wertheim 1817–1901 from Warsaw, half sister of Carl Tausig) and aunt of the pianist Juliusz Wertheim (1880−1928); they had three children (the third died early).Klaus Oskar Leyde: Strasburger. In: Deutsches Geschlechterbuch Band 207 (56. Allgemeiner Band), C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg 1998, S. 227–242. His son was the internist Julius Strasburger, a grandson was the ancient historian Hermann Strasburger.

Works

*''On Cell Formation and Cell Division'', 1876 – a book in which he set forth the basic principles of

. *''Ueber das Verhalten des Pollens und die Befruchtungsvorgänge bei den Gymnospermen: Schwärmsporen, Gameten, pflanzliche Spermatozoiden und das Wesen der Befruchtung''. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena, 1892. *''Lehrbuch der Botanik für Hochschulen'', 1st ed., 1894
4th ed., 1900
digital edition by ULB Düsseldorf
5th ed., 1902
by ULB Düsseldorf
8th ed., 1906
by ULB Düsseldorf
16th ed., 1923
available at BHL; 33rd ed., 1991; 36th ed. 2008. Translated to English, Estonian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, and Spanish. A complete list of editions and translations up to 1994 is given in Finke et al. (1994)Finke, Bresinsky, Denffer, Ehrendorfer, Mägdefrau, Sitte, Ziegler & Lucius (1994). "100 Jahre Strasburgers Lehrbuch der Botanik für Hochschulen". Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, Jena, New York. * ''A Textbook of botany''
1st ed., 1898
English translation of the 2nd German ed. (1895), available at BHL. Macmillan, London. *''Das kleine botanische Practicum für Anfänger : Anleitung zum Selbststudium der mikroskopischen Botanik und Einführung in die mikroskopische Technik''
4th ed., 1902
digital edition by ULB Düsseldorf.

Notes

References

"Strasburger, Eduard Adolf"

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

(1979 ed)
"Science is in a Constant Flow": Live and Work of Eduard Strasburger (1844–1912)
maintained by great-great-grandniece Elonka Dunin * * Finke, H.M., A. Besinsky, D. von Denffer, F. Ehrendorfer, K. Mägdefrau, P. Sitte, H. Ziegler, W.D. von Lucius (1994): 100 Jahre Strasburgers Lehrbuch der Botanik für Hochschulen, 1894–1994. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart/ Jena / New York. 168 Seiten. * Alt, W., K. P. Sauer: ''Biologie an der Universität Bonn. Eine 200-jährige Ideengeschichte.'' In: ''Bonner Schriften zur Universitäts- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte.'' Band 8. V&R unipress, 2016
hdl.handle.net
. *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strasburger, Eduard 1844 births 1912 deaths Scientists from Warsaw 19th-century German botanists 19th-century Polish botanists Schoolteachers from Warsaw University of Bonn alumni Academic staff of the University of Bonn Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Royal Society Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala