Georg Andreas Helwing () (14 December 1666 – 3 January 1748) was a

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

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

. Helwing was born in Angerburg (Węgorzewo) in Brandenburg-Prussia's

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

. He became a "remote member" of the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences () was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer. In the 18th century, when Frenc ...

on 31 August 1709. Helwing discovered and introduced several plants: '' Helwingia'' is named after him. He became known as the ''Tournefortius Borussicus'' and ''Prussian Plinius''. In 1999, the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn was founded with reference to him. It has been suggested that Georg Andreas Helwing was the inspiration for the character Abraham Van Helsing in Bram Stoker's famous novel ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

''.

Works

* ** ''Flora Quasimodogenita. Gedani.'' Leipzig 1713 ** * ''Lithographia Angerburgica, P.I. Regiom.'' 1717, Leipzig 1720 * ''Flora Campana.'' Leipzig 1720

References and external links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070622050859/http://www.bbaw.de/archivbbaw/akademiemitglieder/vorgaengermitglieder_h.html *http://www.litdok.de/cgi-bin/litdok?lang=de&t_idn=yp07560 1666 births 1748 deaths People from the Duchy of Prussia People from Węgorzewo 18th-century German botanists 18th-century German Lutheran clergy 17th-century German botanists {{Germany-botanist-stub