Johann Hedwig (8 December 1730 – 18 February 1799), also styled as Johannes Hedwig, was a German
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 ...
notable for his studies of
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...
es. He is sometimes called the "father of
bryology". He is known for his particular observations of sexual reproduction in the
cryptogams.
Many of his writings were in Latin, and his name is rendered in Latin as Ioannis Hedwig or Ioanne Hedwig.
Early life
Hedwig was born in
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County.
According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...
,
Transylvania
Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
, on 8 December 1730. As the son of a shoemaker, he grew up in poverty. It was in his childhood he became fascinated with mosses.
[Isely, Duane. One Hundred and One Botanists. Purdue University Press, 2002.] He went on to study 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 ...
, and received his medical degree in 1759.
Career

After receiving his degree, Hedwig worked as a physician for the next twenty years. When he was not granted a license to practice in Transylvania with his Leipzig degree, he worked as a general practitioner in
Chemnitz
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...
. It was during this time when he first pursued
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 ...
as a hobby.
He would routinely collect samples in the morning before work, then study his accumulation in the evening. He also was gifted a
microscope
A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...
and a small library, courtesy of
Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber
Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber (17 January 1739 – 10 December 1810), often styled J.C.D. von Schreber, was a German Natural history, naturalist.
Career
Schreber was appointed professor of'' materia medica'' at the University of Erlangen- ...
.
Hedwig was very skilled at both microscopy and
biological illustration. He was able to identify and illustrate moss
antheridia,
archegonia and male gametes. He directly observed the germination of spores and formation of the
protonema. He was less successful with other
sporophyte
A sporophyte () is one of the two alternation of generations, alternating multicellular organism, multicellular phases in the biological life cycle, life cycles of plants and algae. It is a diploid multicellular organism which produces asexual Spo ...
s, being unable to determine the life cycles of
fern
The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...
s or
fungi
A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...
, but he did make useful observations on the
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 ...
''
Chara'' and ''
Spirogyra
''Spirogyra'' (common names include water silk, mermaid's tresses, and blanket weed) is a genus of filamentous charophyte green algae of the order Zygnematales, named for the helical or spiral arrangement of the chloroplasts that is charact ...
'' and he made it clear that he was not the first to get new plants from sowing the spores of mosses,
David Meese
file:Florafrisica.jpg, Cover of the ''Flora frisica''
David Meese (25 December 1723 – 23 August 1770) was a Dutch botanist notable for his authorship of the ''Flora frisica'' in 1760.
Career
Born into a low class family, Meese became a self ta ...
having done it before him.
[Morton, A.G. 1981. ''History of Botanical Science.'' Academic Press Inc. (London) Ltd. ]
In 1781, he moved to Leipzig, where he worked as a doctor at the city hospital. It was here that he published his first major work, the two volume ''Fundamentum historiae naturalis muscorum frondosorum'' in 1782. In 1786, he was hired as an associate professor of medicine at the University of Leipzig. In 1789, he became a professor of botany and director of the botanical garden at the school.
In April 1788, he was invited to be a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
. In 1790, he became 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 1792, he was elected a member of the
Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
His chief work, ''Species muscorum frondosorum'', was published posthumously in 1801. It describes nearly all the moss species then known, and is the starting point for nomenclature of all mosses, except for the ''
Sphagnum
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...
'' group.
Legacy
Hedwig was the father of the botanist
Romanus Adolf Hedwig. He was also the father-in-law of
Christian Daniel Beck and grandfather of .
Today, Hedwig is commemorated both by the moss genus ''
Hedwigia'' as well as the peer-reviewed journal ''Nova Hedwigia''. In appreciation of Hedwig's achievements, the
International Association of Bryologists awards the Hedwig Medal to scientists for extraordinary contributions in the field of Bryology.
Hedwig's personal
herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...
was auctioned off in 1810, but it was largely acquired by the
Botanical Garden of Geneva, where the collection is still located today.
Selected publications
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Editions
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References
External links
Missouri Botanical Garden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedwig, Johann
1730 births
1799 deaths
18th-century German botanists
German bryologists
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Fellows of the Royal Society
Academic staff of Leipzig University
Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Transylvanian Saxon people