Friedrich Welwitsch

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Friedrich Martin Josef Welwitsch

Friedrich Martin Josef Welwitsch (born February 25, 1806 in Maria Saal , † October 20, 1872 in London ) was an Austrian explorer and botanist . He discovered the Welwitschia plant named after him . Its official botanical author abbreviation is “ Welw. "

biography

The Tonhof (historical photo), Welwitsch's birthplace
The Tonhof (current photo), Welwitsch's birthplace
Memorial plaque for Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch in Maria Saal

Friedrich Welwitsch came from the second marriage of his father to the prince's Salzburg court chamber council, caretaker and district judge Franz Josef Anton Welwitsch, which he entered into on February 10, 1801 with Genovefa Mayr, the daughter of the provost administrator in Maria Saal. On the paternal side, the line of ancestors can be traced back to the 17th century, with the family name appearing in various spellings over time (Welbitsch, Wölwitsch, Wölbitz, Bölbitz, ...). Welvich is in the baptismal register, while he himself wrote his name as "Welwitsch". The marital union of his parents had a total of seven children between 1801 and 1812, of whom Friedrich was the third-born. His mother died in 1813.

Already in his youth, hiking in nature with his father and collecting plants, which he determined with the help of books, aroused his interest in the natural sciences. He attended elementary school in Maria Saal and then grammar school in Klagenfurt .

He studied medicine in Vienna and devoted himself extensively to botany. He was particularly influenced by Augustin-Pyrame de Candolle , who stayed in Vienna in 1828. Welwitsch appropriated the new currents - natural plant system and plant geographical approaches. He did his doctorate on the cryptogams of Lower Austria , with which he founded this branch of research in this country. After completing his studies, he first worked as a doctor in Zirknitz ( Carniola ) and Jamnitz ( Moravia ) and devoted himself to his botanical studies during this time. In 1839 he gave up the medical profession and planned a scientific collecting trip to the Azores .

The Württemberg travel association financed him a botanical collecting trip to Portugal , where Welwitsch settled permanently. Welwitsch was able to find a job in Lisbon as director of the royal botanical garden , and from 1844 to 1853 he also managed the Parque Botânico do Monteiro-Mor there . Among other things, he founded the herbarium in Portugal. His private bar of Flora Portugal comprised 9,000 species. One of his focal points in Portugal was also cryptogams; so he described around 250 new species of seaweed.

In 1853 he went on an eight-year research trip to the new Portuguese colony of Angola . He was the first botanist to systematically explore African territory. After his acclimatization in Luanda , where he also met David Livingstone in October 1854 , he went to Sange , whose surroundings he explored for two years. In 1856 he went to Cambamba , in 1857 he had to recover from a fever in Luanda. Then he traveled by ship to Benguela , Moçâmedes and in the south to Baia dos Tigres . In 1859 he discovered the Welwitschia , later named after him , the only species in a whole order .

Welwitsch returned to Portugal in 1861. Because of the better working conditions he went to London in 1863 with the support of the Portuguese government, where he worked on his collections at the Natural History Museum and in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. In the work Sertum Angolense alone he described twelve new genera and 48 new species . However, he only published part of his work. In 1869 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina . Welwitsch died in 1872 and is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London. His simple grave is covered by a stone slab with the following inscription:

[Frederikus Welwitsch, MD] - [Florae angolensis investigatorum princeps] - [Nat. in Carinthia 5 Feb 1806] - [Ob. Londini 20 Oct 1872]

Welwitsch had bequeathed his collections to the Natural History Museum, but the Portuguese government took legal action against the collections. After three years it was agreed to split up the collection: the first set went to Portugal to the University of Lisbon , the second set stayed in London.

Honors

The plant genus Welwitschiella O. Hoffm. from the sunflower family (Asteraceae) is named after him.

Fonts (selection)

The Welwitschia ( Welwitschia mirabilis )
  • Contributions to the cryptogamic flora of Lower Austria . In: Contributions to regional studies in Austria, Volume 4, 1834.
  • Synopsis Nostochinearum Austriae inferioris . Dissertation, Vienna 1836.
  • Genera Phycearum Lusitanae . Files of the Lisbon Academy, Volume 2, 1850.
  • Apontamentos Phyto-geographicos sobre da Flore da Provincia de Angola na Africa Equinocial . In: Annaes de Conselho do Ultramarino, October 1858.
  • Synopsis explicativa das amostras de Madeiras e drogas mediciuaes de collegidas na provincia de Angola etc. Lisbon 1862.
  • Sertum Angolense . In: Transactions of the Linnean Society XXVII, 1869.
  • Notes on the Bryology of Portugal . In: Flora, 1872.

literature

  • Roland Bäck: Friedrich Welwitsch - plant geographer, collector and discoverer. Brief portrait of a great natural scientist on the occasion of his 200th birthday in 2006 In: Kakteen und other Succulents Volume 57, Number 12, pp. 333–339.
  • Marianne Klemun: Friedrich Welwitsch (1806–1872). (Plant geographer in Carinthia, founder of the herbarium in Portugal and developer of the flora of Angola). In: Carinthia II . 180./100. Year, Klagenfurt 1990, pp. 11–30 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  • Helmut Dolezal: Friedrich Welwitsch. Life and work . In: Portugaliae Acta Biologica (B), Vol. VI (1959) 257-323 and Vol. VII (1960-61) 49 / 324-276 / 551.
  • Helmut Dolezal: Friedrich Welwitsch . Dissertation, Vienna 1953.
  • WP Hiern, AB Rendle et al .: Catalog of the African Plants Collected by Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch in 1853–61. 2 volumes in 6 parts. Order of the Trustees, British Museum (Natural History) London 1896–1901.
  • Ernst Wunschmann:  Welwitsch, Friedrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 41, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 699-702.
  • Constantin von Wurzbach : Welwitsch, Friedrich . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 54th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1886, pp. 258–261 ( digitized version ).
  • Gustav Adolf Zwanziger: Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch. His travels in Angola and his life. In: Carinthia . Journal of Homeland Studies, Education and Entertainment. Volume 72, No. 9/10, Klagenfurt 1882, pp. 219–248 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  • H. Trimen: Friedrich Welwitsch . In: Journal of Botany, British and foreign . Volume 11, 1873, pp. 1-11 ( online ).

Web links

Wikisource: Friedrich Welwitsch  - Sources and full texts

References and comments

  1. ^ List of members Leopoldina, Friedrich Welwitsch
  2. ↑ 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 .
personal data
SURNAME Welwitsch, Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Welwitsch, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian African explorer and botanist
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Maria Hall
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 1872
Place of death London