David Hieronymus Grindel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Hieronymus Grindel, around 1800

David Hieronymus Grindel ( Latvian Dāvids Hieronīms Grindelis; * 28 September jul. / 9 October  1776 greg. On the island of Zaķusala , now part of Riga ; † 8 January jul. / 20 January 1836 greg. In Riga, governorate Livonia ) was a doctor, pharmacist, chemist and botanist. He is considered to be the first natural scientist of Latvian origin.  

Life and science

David Hieronymus Grindel was born as the son of the timber buyer ( mastwraker ) Michael Grindel and his wife Katharina Grindel, nee. Mahniken, on the Daugava born -Insel Zaķusala ( "Rabbit Island"). The father was of Latvian descent and had made wealth in his profession. He incorporated the family name into German. David Hieronymus Grindel's grandfather Mārtiņš Grundulis had run away from an estate and had become a dealer assistant in Riga.

Grindel attended the cathedral school in the Livonian capital Riga and also received private lessons. Actually he should have studied theology , but Grindel was apprenticed to the renowned pharmacist Johann Gottlieb Struve (1722-1813) from 1786 to 1792, mainly for economic reasons .

From 1795 to 1797 he studied botany and medicine at the University in Jena . He then returned to his hometown of Riga. In 1800 he was the first Latvian to pass his exams as a pharmacist and chemist in the Russian capital Saint Petersburg . In 1802 the University of Jena awarded him the title of Dr. phil.

From 1798 to 1800 Grindel was provisional (administrator), from 1800 to 1803 partner (co-owner) and 1803/1804 owner of the Struve'schen Elephant Pharmacy, the second oldest pharmacy in Riga. In 1803 Grindel, together with his teacher and mentor Struve and other Riga pharmacists, co-founded the Riga Pharmacists and Chemists Association, the Pharmaceutisch-Chemischen Sozietät .

In 1804 Grindel sold the Elephant Pharmacy to Heinrich August Schreiber (1770–1846) and, following his scientific inclination, went to the University of Tartu , Livonia , which had reopened two years earlier , to the then Imperial University of Dorpat . The first rector of the university, the physicist Georg Friedrich Parrot (1767-1852), was an acquaintance of Grindel. From 1804 to 1814 he was professor of chemistry and pharmacy there. From 1810 to 1812 Grindel was rector of the university.

Due to the falling professorial salary, Grindel gave up his professorship in 1814 and bought back the Elephant Pharmacy in Riga. He left the daily work to the provisional; Grindel concentrated heavily on his scientific and journalistic activities. From 1818 to 1820 he published the Riga City Gazette . Then, looking for new challenges, he decided to become a doctor. From 1820 to 1823 Grindel studied medicine at the University of Tartu and at the same time gave lectures in chemistry. From 1823 he worked as a general practitioner in Riga, a year later as a Riga district doctor.

Memberships and honors

Grindel belonged to numerous scientific and professional associations. From 1802 he was a member of the Livonian Charitable and Economic Society. From 1807 he was a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Medicine and Surgery in Saint Petersburg. He was a member of the Kurland Literature Society. Grindel was an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Pharmaceutical Society.

After David Hieronymus Grindel in botany is Astereae - genus Grindelia (with the kind Grindelia squarrosa named).

Grindel was also active as a writer. In 1802 he received the gold medal of the Free Economic Society in Saint Petersburg.

Commemoration

Grindel died in Riga in 1836 after a serious illness at the age of 59. He is buried in the Mārtiņa kapi cemetery in the Latvian capital.

The memorial plaque in German on the chapel , inaugurated in 1903, reads

1803. 1903.
The Rigasche Pharmaceutical Society
in grateful remembrance its founder
the Riga's pharmacist
nachherigem Rector of the University Dorpeter
Dr. David Hieronymus Grindel
b. Sept. 28, 1776 died Jan. 8, 1836

Works

Grindel wrote numerous essays in the fields of botany, chemistry and pharmacy. The most important publications include:

  • General overview of the new chemistry (Mitau 1798)
  • Botanical paperback for Liv, Cur and Ehstland (Riga 1803)
  • Floor plan of the pharmacy for lectures . Hartmann, Riga 1806 urn : nbn: de: hbz: 061: 2-10571
  • Handbook of theoretical chemistry for academic lectures (Dorpat 1808)
  • Pocket book for examining doctors and pharmacists (Riga 1808)
  • Pocket book for examining doctors and pharmacists. Riga 1808 urn : nbn: de: hbz: 061: 2-9050
  • Chinese surrogate or a new medicinal product (Leipzig 1809)
  • Letters on chemistry for educational entertainment for amateurs (Dorpat, 1812)
  • Letters on chemistry for educational entertainment for amateurs. Volume 2 (Riga 1814)

From 1803 to 1808, Grindel published the German-language specialist journal Russian Yearbook for Pharmacy (6 volumes), 1809/10 the Russian Yearbook for Pharmacy and Chemistry (2 volumes) and from 1819 to 1824 the medical-pharmaceutical papers (4 volumes).

Private life

Grindel was married to Viktoria Regina Wolleyd from Königsberg in 1802 . She died six years later, aged just 24.

In 1808 he married Amalie Elisabeth Schmidt from Pärnu ( Pernau ) in Riga . Both sons were the Russian naval doctor Georg Grindel (1810-1845), who became known as a poet and composer of numerous boyish songs.

literature

  • Album rectorum Universitatis Tartuensis 1632–1997. Tartu 1997
  • Eesti elulood. Tallinn: Eesti entsüklopeediakirjastus 2000 (= Eesti entsüklopeedia 14) ISBN 9985-70-064-3 , p. 71
  • Ron Hellfritzsch: Baltic scientists between Germany and Russia. David Hieronymus Grindel and Alexander Nicolaus Scherer. In: Deutsch-Baltisches Jahrbuch Volume 63, 2016, pp. 86–110.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ E. Bērziņa, A.Vīksna: From the first bathing establishments to the modern health resort in Latvia ( Memento from February 17, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  2. ↑ iAptieka: Old Pharmacy of Riga .
  3. ↑ Kulturportal West Ost: Grindel, Georg .
personal data
SURNAME Grindel, David Hieronymus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grindelis, Dāvids Hieronīms
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian doctor, pharmacist, chemist and botanist
DATE OF BIRTH October 9, 1776
PLACE OF BIRTH on the island of Zaķusala, which today belongs to Riga
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1836
Place of death Riga