Heinrich Zollinger
Heinrich Zollinger (born March 22, 1818 in Feuerthalen in the canton of Zurich , † May 19, 1859 in Kandangan on Java ) was a Swiss botanist . Its official botanical author's abbreviation is “ Zoll. "
Live and act
The gifted farmer's son attended the cantonal teachers' seminar in Küsnacht, which was led by the charismatic director Ignaz Thomas Scherr (1801–1870), who became Zollinger's sponsor and friend and who would remain so until the end of his life. Even during his training, the 18-year-old Zollinger worked as an assistant teacher at a primary school. However, his real dream was to become a naturalist.
In 1837/38 Zollinger studied botany for two semesters in Geneva with Augustin and Alphonse de Candolle , but had to give up his studies due to financial difficulties. However, he did not let himself be dissuaded from his dream.
In 1842 he gave up his position as a secondary teacher in Herzogenbuchsee and went to the Dutch East Indies , to the island of Java , as a private citizen . He tried to earn a living as a plant collector for the herbaria of European museums and private individuals, a difficult undertaking, despite the support of both de Candolles. At first he lived for free with a Swiss plantation owner in West Java. After his death in 1843, the head gardener of the Botanical Garden in Buitenzorg, now Bogor , Johannes Elias Teysmann and the journalist Baron Wolter Robert van Hoëvell helped him to make ends meet. Zollinger arranged the herbarium of the Botanical Garden, worked on the catalog and wrote articles for Hoevell's magazine "Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië". Every now and then he received approval and financial support for research trips from the Dutch colonial government.
In 1844 he spent almost a year in the still little-known regions of East Java, at the same time as Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn , whom he avoided because he saw him as a competitor. In 1845 and 1846 Zollinger was in Bali for a short time to accompany the military punitive actions against the Balinese. In the destroyed northern Balinese city of Buleleng, today's Singaraja , he collected manuscripts and works of art and from there drove on to the island of Lombok.
In 1847 he received the order from Governor General Jan Jacob Rochussen to explore the Lesser Sunda Islands and went via Makassar to the island of Sumbawa , where he undertook an ascent of Mount Tambora , an excursion that has been going on since the great eruption of this volcano in the year In 1815 no one had dared.
In 1848 Zollinger returned to Switzerland completely frustrated because he saw no future for himself in Java. His efforts to get a permanent job in the colonial government had repeatedly failed. A steep career in school service seemed to be waiting for him in Zurich. He became director of the seminar in Küsnacht, but Java did not let him go.
In 1855 he gave up his position as director. Together with his wife, two sons Heinrich and Alphons , a daughter Klara and a private teacher Catharina Alder from Küsnacht, Switzerland, he traveled back to Java to plant a coconut plant in Rogojampi near Banjuwangi in East Java. His eldest son Heinrich died on May 26, 1856, at the age of 5, of dysentery , also known as red dysentery . The company was already making good progress when Zollinger also became seriously ill with dysentery, a late sequela of malaria from earlier times. The doctor sent him to the Bromo Mountains, to Kandangan, to relax. Zollinger died there in 1859, only 41 years old.
He had wanted to write a large scientific work on Java, but gave up the plan when he learned that his rival Franz Junghuhn was planning to do the same and was already further advanced in his endeavors. He left behind only a series of scientific articles and an unpublished private diary from the years 1841–1848.
Honors
The plant genus Zollingeria Kurz from the soap tree family (Sapindaceae) is named after him.
swell
Heinrich Zollinger estate in the Zurich Central Library, diaries 1841–1848
Works
- Heinrich Zollinger: Journey through East Java . In: Frorieps Advances in Geography and Natural History , No. 47, 1847.
- Observationes phytographicae ... 1844–1846
- Systematic index of the plants collected in the Indian archipelago between 1842 and 1848 and those received from Japan . Zurich (1854–1855).
- About plant physiognomics in general and that of the island of Java in particular. Zurich, 1855
- Ascent of the Tambora volcano on the island of Sumbawa and description of the Erupzion of the same in 1815 , Winterthur 1855.
literature
- Felix Frank: From secondary school teacher in Herzogenbuchsee to natural scientist in Java . In: Yearbook of Oberaargau 1996 . Zurich 1996, pp. 131-138.
- Viktor Hantzsch : Zollinger, Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 45, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1900, pp. 419-423.
- Urs Rohr: The role of the researcher in the colonial process, demonstrated by the work of the Zurich naturalist Heinrich Zollinger in the Dutch East Indies, diploma thesis at the Geographical Institute of Univ. Zurich, 1993 .
- Robert Zander : Zander concise dictionary of plant names. Edited by Fritz Encke , Günther Buchheim, Siegmund Seybold . 13th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-8001-5042-5 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .
- ↑ Walter Erhardt among others: The great pikeperch. Encyclopedia of Plant Names . Volume 2, page 2089. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7
Web links
- Heinz Balmer : Zollinger, Heinrich. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Author entry and list of the described plant names for Heinrich Zollinger at the IPNI
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zollinger, Heinrich |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss botanist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 22, 1818 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Feuerthalen , Canton of Zurich |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 19, 1859 |
| Place of death | Kandangan , Java |