Johann Friedrich Ruthe Ruthé or von Ruthe (16 April 1788 in Eggenstädt, near

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

– 24 August 1859 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) was a German

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

(Oberlehrer),

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

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. In the field of entomology he specialised in

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...

and

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advance ...

. With assistance from

Heinrich Friedrich Link Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link (2 February 1767 – 1 January 1851) was a German naturalist and botanist. Biography Link was born at Hildesheim as a son of the minister August Heinrich Link (1738–1783), who taught him love of nature through ...

(1767–1851) he began his studies at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

in 1811. Here he had as instructors

Karl Rudolphi Karl Asmund Rudolphi (14 July 1771 – 29 November 1832) was a Swedish-born German naturalist, who is credited with being the "father of helminthology". Life Rudolphi was born in Stockholm to German parents. He was awarded his PhD in 1793 ...

(1771–1832) and

Martin Lichtenstein Martin H nrich Carl Lichtenstein (10 January 1780 – 2 September 1857) was a German physician, List of explorers, explorer, botanist and zoologist. He explored parts of southern Africa and collected natural history specimens extensively and ...

(1780–1857). After concluding his university studies, he taught classes at several schools in

and

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...

. Due to poor health he retired from teaching in 1842. Ruthe issued the

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

work ''Flora der Mittelmark in getrockneten Exemplaren'' (1820–1822). The fungi genus ''Ruthea'' is named after him, now a synonym of ''

Paxillus ''Paxillus'' is a genus of mushrooms of which most are known to be poisonous mushroom, poisonous or inedible. Species include ''Paxillus involutus'' and ''Paxillus vernalis''. Two former species—''Tapinella panuoides'' and ''Tapinella atrotomen ...

''. Also in 1976, botanists A.Hansen & G.Kunkel published '' Rutheopsis'', a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s from the Canary Islands belonging to the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering p ...

, also named in his honour.

Written works

Among his written works was a textbook on zoology, "''Handbuch der Zoologie''", that was co-authored with

Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann (2 June 1802 – 15 January 1841) was a German zoologist and herpetologist born in Braunschweig. He studied medicine and philology at the University of Leipzig, and afterwards was an assistant to Martin Lichten ...

(1802–1841). Other noted publications by Ruthe are the following: * Einige Bemerkungen und Nachträge zu Meigen's "Systematischer Beschreibung der europäischen zweiflügeligen Insecten". ''Isis'' ( Oken's) 1831: 1203-22 (1831). * ''Flora der Mark Brandenburg und der Niederlausitz'' (1827
2nd ed. 1834
- Flora of Mark Brandenburg and

Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the Germany, German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the south, Lower Lusa ...

. *
Leben eines Niedersachsen, von ihm selbst beschrieben
' (1841) - The life of a

Low Saxon Low Saxon (), also known as West Low German () are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of the German-speaking minority). It is one of two di ...

, as described by himself. * ''Die Spheciden und Chrysiden der Umgegend Berlins'' (1857) -

Sphecidae The Sphecidae are a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family of wasps of the suborder Apocrita that includes Ammophilinae, sand wasps, mud daubers, and other thread-waisted wasps. The name Sphecidae was formerly given to a much larger g ...

and

Chrysididae Commonly known as cuckoo wasps or emerald wasps, the hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species) of parasitoid or kleptoparasitic wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliant metallic colors ...

found in the vicinity of Berlin.
World Cat Identities

References

Other sources

ADB:Ruthe, Johann Friedrich
– Wikisource biography * Martin Lowsky: Johann Friedrich Ruthe. Deserteur und Vagabund im Königreich Westphalen, Gelehrter in Berlin. In: H. Joachim Kusserow/Guide Erol Öztanil (ed.): "Mit stahlscharfer Klinge". Beiträge zu Johann Heinrich Oppermann. Hannover: Wehrhahn Verlag 2012, p. 121-140. 1788 births 1859 deaths German entomologists Dipterists Hymenopterists People from Hildesheim 19th-century German botanists {{Germany-zoologist-stub