Christian Knaut (August 16, 1656 – April 11, 1716) was a German physician,

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 ...

and

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

born in

Halle an der Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Magdeburg as well as t ...

. His older brother, Christoph Knaut (1638–1694) was also a physician and botanist. He studied medicine at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, where he had as instructors

Gottfried Welsch Gottfried Welsch (November 12, 1618 – September 5, 1690) was a German physician born in Leipzig. In 1644 he became a professor of anatomy at the University of Leipzig, and afterwards a professor of physiology (1647), pathology (1662) and thera ...

, Paul Amman, Michael Ettmüller and

Johannes Bohn Johannes Bohn (20 July 1640 – 19 December 1718) was a German physician who was a native of Leipzig. He studied medicine at the University of Leipzig and the University of Jena, and received his doctorate in 1665. In 1668 he was promoted to the ...

. In 1682 he obtained his doctorate from 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 ...

with a dissertation titled ''De fermentatione in sanguine non existente''. Afterwards he returned to Halle, where he served as a librarian and personal physician to Prince Emanuel Lebrecht of

Anhalt-Köthen Anhalt-Köthen was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the House of Ascania. It was created in 1396 when the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst was partitioned between Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen. T ...

. As a librarian he was the author of a

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

and description involving the counties of Ballenstädt and

Aschersleben Aschersleben () is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle (Saale). Geography Aschersleben lies near the confluence of the ...

(1698). As a botanist he published ''Compendium Botanicum sive Methodus plantarum genuina'', in which he provided a classification system for

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s based on

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

number and arrangement.

Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

named the plant genus ''

Knautia ''Knautia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caprifoliaceae. It includes 55 species native to Europe, North Africa, Western and Central Asia, and Siberia. The common names are variants of "widow flower". Others are given the name "sc ...

'' in honor of Christian and Christoph Knaut.The Plant Lover's Companion: Plants, People & Places
by Julia Brittain

References

* ''This article is based on a translation of the equivalent article from the German Wikipedia.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Knaut, Christian 17th-century German botanists German librarians 1656 births 1716 deaths People from Halle (Saale) 18th-century German botanists 17th-century German scholars