Johann Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish
zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all
arthropod
Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...
s:
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s,
arachnid
Arachnids are arthropods in the Class (biology), class Arachnida () of the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, opiliones, harvestmen, Solifugae, camel spiders, Amblypygi, wh ...
s,
crustaceans and others. He was a student of
Carl 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 ...
, and is considered one of the most important entomologists of the 18th century, having named nearly 10,000 species of animals, and established the basis for the modern insect
classification
Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...
.
Biography
Johann Christian Fabricius was born on 7 January 1745 at
Tønder in the
Duchy of Schleswig, where his father was a doctor.
He studied at the
gymnasium at
Altona and entered 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.
...
in 1762.
Later the same year he travelled together with his friend and relative
Johan Zoëga to
Uppsala, where he studied under
Carl 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 ...
for two years.
On his return, he started work on his , which was finally published in 1775.
Throughout this time, he remained dependent on subsidies from his father, who worked as a consultant at
Frederiks Hospital.
Fabricius was appointed a professor in Copenhagen in 1770, and in 1775 or 1776, the
University of Kiel appointed Fabricius professor of natural history and economics, promising that they would build a
natural history museum and a
botanical garden.
Although he tried to resign three times, on one occasion only being prevented by an appeal from his students to the
Danish King and
Duke of Schleswig,
Christian VII,
Fabricius held the position at Kiel for the rest of his life.
During his time in Kiel, Fabricius repeatedly travelled to London in the summer to study the collections of British collectors, such as
Joseph Banks and
Dru Drury
Dru Drury (4 February 1725 – 15 January 1804) was a British collector of natural history specimens and an entomologist. He received specimens collected from across the world through a network of ship's officers and collectors including Henry ...
.
Towards the end of his career, Fabricius spent much of his time living in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, where he frequently met with naturalists such as
Georges Cuvier and
Pierre André Latreille
Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoology, zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained hi ...
;
he was also interested in the events of the
French Revolution. On hearing of the
British attack on Copenhagen in 1807, Fabricius returned to Kiel, damaging his already fragile health. He died on 3 March 1808, at the age of 63.
His daughter died in an accident in Paris, but he was survived by two sons, who both 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, ...
.
Evolution
The evolutionary ideas of Fabricius are not well known. He believed that man originated from the
great apes and that new
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
could be formed by the
hybridization of existing species.
[''Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography''. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. 512–513.] He also has been called the "Father of
Lamarckism" because of his belief that new species could form from morphological adaptation.
Fabricius wrote about the influence of environment on development of species and
selection phenomena (females preferring the strongest males).
Works
Fabricius is considered one of the greatest
entomologists of the 18th century.
He was a greater observer of insects than his more
botanically-minded mentor,
Carl 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 ...
. Fabricius named 9,776 species of insects, compared to Linnaeus' tally of around 3,000.
He identified many species of
Tenebrionidae from the Egyptian Sinai on the basis of other entomologists' collections.
Fabricius added two distinct areas to the classification system. He considers both artificial and natural characteristics. Artificial characteristics allow for the determination of a species, and natural ones allow for the relationship to other genera and varieties.
In contrast to Linnaeus' classification of the insects, which was based primarily on the number of
wings, and their form, Fabricius used the form of the
mouthparts to discriminate the orders (which he termed "classes").
He stated "those whose nourishment and biology are the same, must then belong to the same genus."
Fabricius' system remains the basis of insect classification today, although the names he proposed are not. For instance, his name for the order containing the
beetle
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
s was "Eleutherata", rather than the modern "
Coleoptera", and he used "Piezata" for
Hymenoptera; his term
Glossata is still in use, but for a slightly smaller group among the
Lepidoptera, rather than the whole order. Fabricius also foresaw that the male
genitalia would provide useful characters for
systematics
Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...
, but could not apply that insight himself.
Fabricius was the first to divide the
Staphylinidae (rove beetles), which Linnaeus had considered a single genus that he called "''Staphylinus''", establishing in 1775 the genus ''
Paederus''. He also described 77 species of Staphylinidae.
[ abricius: pp. 61–62/ref>
His major works on systematic entomology were:]
* (1775)
* (1776)
* (1781). Full title:
* (1787)
* (1792–1799)
* (1801)
* (1803)
* (1804)
* (1805)
* (1807)
Many of his works can be found in digital libraries:
Biodiversity Heritage Library
(24 items[)
]
Google Books
(24 items[)
]
Gallica
(12 items[)
* HathiTrust (1 item][''Species insectorum'']
vol. 1
vol. 2
/ref>)
Fabricius' collections are shared between the Natural History Museum, London, the , Paris, the Hope Department of Entomology, Oxford, the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow, the Zoological Museum in Kiel, and the , 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 ...
.
Fabricius also wrote a few works on economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
, although these are much less important than his zoological works. They include (1773), (1786–1790) and (1781).
References
Further reading
*
*
ZMCU Collection contents online
Digital version of ''Entomologia systematica, emendata et aucta''
*Henriksen, Kai L. (1932) Johann Christian Fabricius, pp. 76–80 in: Meisen, V. Prominent Danish Scientists through the Ages. University Library of Copenhagen 450th Anniversary. Levin & Munksgaard, Copenhagen.
External links
Circumscriptional names
AnimalBase
Comprehensive Fabricius literature and Fabricius taxa list.
*
''Encyclopedia of Life''−EOL.org: Taxa described by Fabricius
— '' Type Fabricius into the search box, complete and many supported by images''.]
An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera London 1858
— ''biography on page XVI gives Fabricius' own account of his travels''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabricius, Johann Christian
1745 births
1808 deaths
Danish taxonomists
Dipterists
Danish lepidopterists
Danish arachnologists
Danish carcinologists
Age of Liberty people
People from Tønder Municipality
18th-century Danish zoologists
19th-century Danish zoologists
Lamarckism
Proto-evolutionary biologists
Academic staff of the University of Kiel
Danish entomologists
Cameralists
Myrmecologists
International members of the American Philosophical Society