Johann Bartsch (1709–1738) was a German physician.
Bartsch was born in
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
, and graduated in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
at
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city o ...
in 1737. His ''Thesis de Calore Corporis Humani hygraulico'' is the only work he published. He was much attached to the science of botany, which led him to seek the society of
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...
, who was on a year-long visit to
Boerhaave at
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...
. No fewer than 47 letters of Bartsch to Linnaeus from 1736 and 1737 survive, and Bartsch assisted Linnaeus with the publication of ''Flora Lapponica'
By the solicitation of Linnaeus, who had to decline the offer himself, Bartsch was sent by Boerhaave to
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the nor ...
, where he died six months after his arrival, having responded badly to the climate. Linnaeus has perpetuated his name by denominating a genus of plants (''
Bartsia
''Bartsia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae.
Bartsia grows in damp places, such as marshes and wet meadows, in several parts of the west of England and Wales and in southwest Scotland.
Etymology
''Bartsia'' was name ...
'') after him.
References
1709 births
1738 deaths
Physicians from Königsberg
18th-century German botanists
18th-century German physicians
Leiden University alumni
Scientists from Königsberg
{{Germany-botanist-stub