Christians Smith

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Christians Smith, portrait

Christen Smith (born October 17, 1785 in Skoger near Drammen , † September 22, 1816 on the Congo River ) was a Norwegian botanist and explorer . Its botanical author abbreviation is " C.Sm. "; earlier the abbreviation “ Chr.Sm. " in use.

Live and act

Christen Smith was the son of a Norwegian landowner. He was initially trained in Kongsberg and then studied medicine at the University of Copenhagen . After graduating, he worked at Frederiks Hospital in Copenhagen from 1810 to 1811. During his studies, Smith became interested in botany under the influence of Martin Vahl and Jens Wilken Hornemann . Together with Hornemann and Martin Petrowitsch Wormskiold (1783-1845) he undertook an excursion to the Norwegian mountains in 1808, which he continued alone because of the outbreak of the Danish-Swedish War and during which he collected numerous new mosses and other plants, which he found in scientific circles made known. In the summer of 1812 he undertook a second excursion with Joakim Frederik Schouw into the almost unexplored mountains of the Telemark and Hallingdal regions , which further strengthened his reputation as a naturalist.

In 1814 he was appointed professor of botany and agriculture at the University of Oslo . Shortly before that, after his father's death, Smith had inherited some fortune that he wanted to use to study nature in other countries. His first trip abroad took him to Great Britain , which he toured extensively by the end of the year. In the house of Joseph Banks Smith met many leading naturalists, including the geologist Leopold von Buch . Together with von Buch, Smith planned a trip to Madeira and the Canary Islands .

From Portsmouth both sailed aboard the William and Mary to Madeira, where they landed in Funchal on April 21, 1815 . After a two-week stay, they left Madeira on May 2, 1815 for La Orotava on the Canary Island of Tenerife , where they arrived three days later. While climbing the Teide , Smith realized that the pine vegetation must be an as yet undescribed species, which he called the Canary Pine . From San Cristóbal de La Laguna both went on numerous excursions in the area, during which Smith collected numerous succulent plants , including Sempervivum urbicum , Sempervivum aureum and Aichryson punctatum . From Santa Cruz they continue their journey with a visit to the island of Gran Canaria . Smith collected the previously unknown plant species Hypericum coadunatum and Micromeria lanata here . After a stay in Lanzarote , they left the Canary Islands on October 27, 1815 and returned to Great Britain.

Soon after his return, Smith was asked by Joseph Banks, in the expedition of James Kingston Tuckey participate, the steamboat HMS Congo River Congo should explore. During this trip, Smith fell seriously ill and died on September 22, 1816. After his death, Heinrich Friedrich Link , Christoph Friedrich Otto , Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck and others took over the processing of the plant material that he had collected during the trip to the Canary Islands Augustine Pyramus de Candolle . Most of Smith's herbarium is in the British Museum .

Honors

In 1824 Augustine Pyramus de Candolle named the genus Christiana of the mallow family in his honor . Numerous plant species are named after him, for example Bystropogon smithii , Dactylis smithii and Polycarpaea smithii .

Fonts

The following were published posthumously:

  • Narrative of an expedition to explore the river Zaire, usually called the Congo: in South Africa, in 1816, under the direction of Captain JK Tuckey, RN To which is added, the journal of Professor Smith; and some general observations on the country and its inhabitants . J. Murray: London 1818 ( online ).
  • Professor C. Smith's Dagbog paa en Reise til Congo i Afrika . Christiania 1819.
  • Professor Christen Smiths Dagbog paa Reisen til de Canariske Øer i 1815 . Christiania 1889 (edited by Frantz Casper Kiær ).
  • Narrative of an expedition to explore the river Zaire, usually called the Congo: in South Africa, in 1816, under the direction of Captain JK Tuckey, RN To which is added, the journal of Professor Smith; and some general observations on the country and its inhabitants. J. Murray, London 1818, pp. LXII-LXXI ( online ).

proof

literature

  • James Britten, George Simonds Boulger: A Biographical Index of British and Irish Botanists. P. 216, West, Newman & Co., 1899, ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
  • Per Sunding: Christen Smith's diary from the Canary Islands and its importance for the Canarian botany. 2003 ( online ).
  • OG Petersen: Smith, Christians . In: Carl Frederik Bricka (Ed.): Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537-1814. 1st edition. tape 16 : Skarpenberg – Sveistrup . Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, Copenhagen 1902, p. 120-121 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
  • Smith. 1. Christen S. In: Theodor Westrin, Ruben Gustafsson Berg, Eugen Fahlstedt (eds.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 26 : Slöke – Stockholm . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1917, Sp. 32-33 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
  • Smith, Christians. In: Haakon Nyhuus (ed.): Illustreret norsk konversationsleksikon. Volume 6: Recambio – Öynhausen (Ordbøgerne: Teknologisk – Øvrighedsperson) Aschehoug, Christiania 1913, Sp. 926 ( online ).
  • CH Ostenfeld: Smith, Christians . In: Christian Blangstrup (Ed.): Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon . 2nd Edition. tape 21 : Schinopsis spectrum . JH Schultz Forlag, Copenhagen 1926, p. 800 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
  • Edvard Bull, Anders Krogvig, Gerhard Gran (eds.): Norsk biografisk leksikon . 14: Skredsvig – Stenersen. Aschehoug, Oslo 1962, Norsk biografisk leksikon, p. 63-69 ( online ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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 .
  2. ↑ Per Sunding: Christen Smith's diary from the Canary Islands and its importance for the Canarian botany . 2003 ( online , accessed April 4, 2018).

further reading

  • Preben Munthe: Christen Smith: botaniker og økonom. Aschehoug, Oslo 2004, ISBN 82-03-22965-4 .

Web links

Commons : Christen Smith  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files


personal data
SURNAME Smith, Christians
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian botanist and explorer
DATE OF BIRTH October 17, 1785
PLACE OF BIRTH Skoger at Drammen
DATE OF DEATH September 22, 1816
Place of death Congo , Africa