Fredrik Christian Emil Børgesen (1 January 1866 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

– 22 March 1956 in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

) was a Danish

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 phycologist. He graduated in

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 ...

from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

and was subsequently employed as an assistant at the Botanical Museum (1893–1900). His doctoral thesis dealt with the marine algae of the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

(1904). Later, he became librarian at the Library of the

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

(1900–1935). Børgesen made investigations of marine

alga Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular microalgae, suc ...

e e.g. around

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

and the

Antilles The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

. Many species have been named to his honour, e.g. '' Coccoloba borgesenii'' (

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants known Common name, informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The Botanical name, name is Basionym, based on the genus ''Polygonum'', ...

) and numerous

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

, e.g. '' Hypnea boergesenii'' ( Hypneaceae) and '' Padina boergesenii'' (

Phaeophyceae Brown algae (: alga) are a large group of multicellular algae comprising the class Phaeophyceae. They include many seaweeds located in colder waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Brown algae are the major seaweeds of the temperate and polar regio ...

Selected publications

* Børgesen, F. & Paulsen, O. (1898) ''Om Vegetationen paa De dansk-vestindiske Øer''. København: Nordisk Forlag. 114 pp. *:The work is a result of studies conducted during the expedition to

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and the

organized by

Eugen Warming Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming (3 November 1841 – 2 April 1924), known as Eugen Warming, was a Danish botanist and a main founding figure of the scientific discipline of ecology. Warming wrote the first textbook (1895) on plant ecology, tau ...

1891–1892. The whole work has a distinct " Warmingian" appearance, organized as it is according to major vegetation types ( halophytic vegetation, psammophytic vegetation, etc.) and with descriptions (incl. line drawings) of leaf and stem morphology in relation to habitat. Børgesen and Paulsen were students of

. Later, the both went their own ways, mainly to

phycology Phycology () is the scientific study of algae. Also known as algology, phycology is a branch of life science. Algae are important as primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Most algae are eukaryotic, photosynthetic organisms that live in a ...

and

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and ...

. *'' Botany of the Færöes'' *:These three papers were later reprinted in one volume: ** Børgesen, F. (1903) Marine algæ. In Vol. II, pp. 339–532. Copenhagen and London. ** Børgesen, F. (1908) The algæ-vegetation of the Færöese coasts, with remarks on the phyto-geography. In Vol. III, pp. 683–834. Copenhagen and London.Criticized by Porsild, M.P. & Simmons, Herm. G. (1904) Om Færöernes Havalgevegetation og dens Oprindelse - en Kritik. '' Botaniska Notiser'' 1904: 140-180 + 197-236. ** Børgesen, F. & Jónsson, H. (1908) The distribution of the marine algæ of the Arctic Sea and of the northernmost part of the Atlantic. In Vol. III Appendix pp. i-xxviii. *Børgesen, F. (1904) "Om Algevegetationen ved Færøernes Kyster". Gyldendalske Boghandel, Copenhagen. Doctoral dissertation, University of Copenhagen. * Børgesen, F. & Raunkiær, C. (1918
Mosses and Lichens collected in the former Danish West Indies
'' Dansk Botanisk Arkiv'' 2(9):1-18. * Børgesen, F. (1913–14) The marine Algæ of the Danish West Indies, Vol I. Chlorophyceæ and Phæophyceæ. Dansk Botanisk Arkiv 1(4) and 2(2). 226 pp. * Børgesen, F. (1915–20
The marine Algæ of the Danish West Indies, Vol. II. Rhodophyceæ; with addenda to the Chlorophyceæ, Phæophyceæ and Rhodophyceæ
''Dansk Botanisk Arkiv'' 3. 504 pp.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borgesen, Frederik 19th-century Danish botanists Danish marine biologists Danish phycologists Botanists with author abbreviations 20th-century Danish botanists Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen University of Copenhagen alumni 1866 births 1956 deaths