Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin (16 February 172726 October 1817) was a scientist who studied

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and

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 ...

Biography

Selectarum Stirpium Americanarum Historia

Born in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

in the Netherlands, he studied medicine at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

, then moved first to Paris and afterward to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1752, he studied under

Gerard van Swieten Gerard van Swieten (7 May 1700 – 18 June 1772) was a Dutch physician who from 1745 was the personal physician of the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and transformed the Austrian health service and medical university education. He was the f ...

in Vienna. Between 1755 and 1759, Jacquin was sent to the West Indies, Central America, Venezuela and New Granada by Francis I to collect plants for the

Schönbrunn Palace Schönbrunn Palace (Austrian German, German: Schloss Schönbrunn ) was the main summer residence of the House of Habsburg, Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning "beautiful spring") ha ...

, and amassed a large collection of animal, plant and mineral samples. In 1797,

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

profited from studying these collections and conversing with Jacquin in preparation of his own journey to the Americas. In 1763, Jacquin became professor of chemistry and

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

at the Bergakademie Schemnitz (now

Banská Štiavnica Banská Štiavnica (; ; , ) is a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. For its size, the caldera is known as the Štiavnica Mountains. Banská Štiavnica has a population of ...

in Slovakia). In 1768, he was appointed Professor of Botany and Chemistry and became director 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 ...

s of the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. For his work, he received the title ''

Edler Edler () was until 1919 the lowest rank of nobility in Austria-Hungary and Germany, just beneath a '' Ritter'' (hereditary knight), but above untitled nobles, who used only the nobiliary particle ''von'' before their surname. It was mostly given t ...

'' in 1774. In 1783, he was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

. In 1806, he was created a baron. In 1809, he became a correspondent of the Royal Institute, which later became the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

. His younger son, Emil Gottfried (1767–1792), and his daughter, Franziska (1769–1850), were friends of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

; Mozart wrote two songs for Gottfried to publish under Gottfried's name (" Als Luise ...", K. 520, and " Das Traumbild", K. 530) and gave piano lessons to Franziska. Mozart dedicated a considerable number of his works to the Jacquin family, notably the

Kegelstatt Trio The ''Kegelstatt Trio'', K. 498, is a piano trio for clarinet, viola and piano in E-flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. History Mozart wrote the piano trio on 10 sheets (19 pages) in Vienna and dated the manuscript on 5 August 1786. Accordin ...

. This was first played at the Jacquins' house in August 1786 with Franziska playing the piano. His son Joseph Franz (1766–1839) succeeded him as professor of botany and chemistry at the University of Vienna and wrote several notable botanical books. Von Jacquin died in Vienna. He is commemorated by the genera '' Jacquinia'' ( Theophrastaceae) and '' Jacquiniella'' (

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

). In 2011, the Austrian Mint issued silver coins to mark his science expeditions to the Caribbean.

Publications

''Enumeratio systematica plantarum''
(1760)
''Enumeratio Stirpium Plerarumque''
(1762)
''Selectarum Stirpium Americanarum''
(1763) *''Observationum Botanicarum''

1764

1767

1768

1771)
''Hortus Botanicus Vindobonensis''
(3 volumes, 1770–1776) with plates by Franz Anton von Scheidel
''Florae Austriacae''
(5 volumes, 1773–1778)
''Icones Plantarum Rariorum''
(3 volumes, 1781–1793)
''Plantarum Rariorum Horti Caesarei Schoenbrunnensis''
(4 volumes, 1797–1804)
''Fragmenta Botanica 1804–1809''
(1809)
''Nicolai Josephi Jacquin collectaneorum supplementum ...''''Oxalis :Monographia iconibus illustrata''''Dreyhundert auserlesene amerikanische Gewächse nach linneischer Ordnung''
(with Zorn, Johannes) * ''Nikolaus Joseph Edlen von Jacquin's Anfangsgründe der medicinisch-practischen Chymie : zum Gebrauche seiner Vorlesungen'' . Wappler, Vienna 178
Digital edition
by the

University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

* ''Nikolaus Joseph Edlen von Jacquin's Anfangsgründe der medicinisch-practischen Chymie : zum Gebrauche seiner Vorlesungen'' . Wappler, Vienna, 2nd. ed. 178
Digital edition
by the

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacquin, Nikolaus Joseph von 1727 births 1817 deaths Scientists from Leiden 18th-century Austrian botanists 18th-century explorers from the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century botanists from the Holy Roman Empire Mycologists Ornithologists Austrian barons Botanists active in North America Botanists active in the Caribbean Bryologists Dutch bryologists 18th-century Dutch botanists 18th-century Dutch chemists Dutch mycologists 18th-century Dutch naturalists Fellows of the Royal Society Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Dutch phycologists Pteridologists Leiden University alumni

Biography

Publications

See also

Notes

External links