Nathanael Gottfried Leske (22 October 1751 in

Muskau Bad Muskau (; formerly ''Muskau'', , , ) is a spa town in the historic Upper Lusatia region in eastern Germany, at the border with Poland. It is part of the Görlitz district in the State of Saxony. It is located on the banks of the Lusatian Ne ...

– 25 November 1786 in

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

) was a German

natural scientist Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

from the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. After his studies at ''Bergakademie'' of Freiberg in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

and the ''Franckeschen Stiftungen'' in Halle, Leske became a special professor of natural history 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 ...

in 1775. From 1777 to 1786, he taught

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 ...

at this university, and in 1786, he was called to the chair of financial science and economics at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

. However, he had a fatal accident on his way to Marburg. Throughout his life, Leske corresponded with his teacher and close friend of

Abraham Gottlob Werner Abraham Gottlob Werner (; 25 September 174930 June 1817) was a German geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chem ...

, famous

and mineralogist at

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. He also edited the ''Leipziger Magazin zur Naturkunde, Mathematik und Oekonomie'' (1781-1789) Leipziger Magazin
with Christlieb Benedict Funk and Carl Friedrich Hindenburg. Leske possessed an extensive

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

and

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

collection called the

Leskean Cabinet The Leskean Cabinet is an 18th-century mineral and natural history collection conserved in the Natural History Museum in Dublin. It is a cabinet of mineralogy which was assembled by Nathaniel Gottfried Leske. History Purchase Early in 1792 a com ...

, which was arranged after his death by

Dietrich Ludwig Gustav Karsten Dietrich Ludwig Gustav Karsten (5 April 1768 – 20 May 1810) was a German mineralogist. Among the most notable of Karsten's writings is a mineralogy book published in 1789 when he was only 21 years old. In later years Karsten held senior governme ...

and later, in 1792, sold to the ''Dublin Society''. The collection included other natural history specimens many from the collections of

Johann Friedrich Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German natural history, naturalist, chemist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist. Education Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp F ...

and

Johan Christian Fabricius Johann Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...

. These specimens are now in the

National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland () is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has three branches in Dublin, the arch ...

Works

*''Ichthyologiae Lipsiensis specimen''. Lipsiae: Siegfrief Lebrecht Crusius, 1774. *with

Jacob Theodor Klein Jacob Theodor Klein (nickname ''Plinius Gedanensium''; 15 August 1685 – 27 February 1759) was a German people, German jurist, historian, botanist, zoologist, mathematician and diplomat in service of Polish King August II the Strong. Life Klein ...

''Additamenta ad Jacob Theodor Klein Naturalem dispositionim echinodermatum et lucubratiunculam de aculeis echinorum marinorum'' Lipsiae Ex Officina Gleditschiana, 1778
BHL
*''Anfangsgrunde der Naturgeschichte. Zwote icverbesserte und viel vermehrte Ausgabe''. Leipzig: Siegfried Lebrecht Crusius, 1784. * ''Reise durch Sachsen in Rüksicht der Naturgeschichte und Ökonomie unternommen und beschrieben''. Leipzig: J.G. Müllersche Buchhandlung, 1785 * ''Museum Leskeanum'' Leipzig: J.G. Müller, 1789
BHL

References

* Werner Andert und Hans Prescher: Nathanael Gottfried Leske (1751–1786). Zum 225. Geburtstag des ersten Erforschers der Naturkunde und Ökonomie der Oberlausitz und Theoretikers der Landwirtschaft. In: S''ächsische Heimatblätter'' Jg. 23, 1977, S. 73–89 (m. Bild). * Jan Solta: Die Freundschaft Nathanael Gottfried Leskes mit Johann Christian Schubarts 1780–1786. In: Jan Solta: ''Wirtschaft, Kultur und Nationalität. Ein Studienband zur sorbischen Geschichte''. Bautzen 1990, S. 56–75 = Schriftenreihe des Instituts für sorbische Volksforschung in Bautzen Bd. 58. *Richard I Vane-Wright, 1975. The butterflies named by J.F. Gmelin (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). ''Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology'' 32: 17–64.

External links

Zoologica

Göttingen State and University Library The Göttingen State and University Library ( or SUB Göttingen) is the library for Göttingen University as well as for the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and is the state library for the German State of Lower Saxony. One of the largest German ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leske, Nathaniel Gottfried 1751 births 1786 deaths People from Bad Muskau 18th-century German naturalists 18th-century German geologists German entomologists People from the Electorate of Saxony Academic staff of Leipzig University People from Görlitz (district) 18th-century agronomists Cameralists