Henry Muhlenberg

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Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Mühlenberg, portrayed by Charles Willson Peale

Henry Muhlenberg , completely Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Mühlenberg , also Henry Ernest Muhlenberg , (born November 17, 1753 in Trappe , Province of Pennsylvania , † May 23, 1815 in Lancaster , Pennsylvania) was an American Lutheran theologian and naturalist . His botanical author's abbreviation is “ Muhl. "

Life

Gotthilf (Henry Ernest) Muhlenberg was one of the sons of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg . Peter Muhlenberg and Frederick Muhlenberg were his brothers. All three were sent to the Francke Foundations (then still Glauchasche Institutions) in Halle for schooling. He attended Latina from 1763 to 1769 and began studying theology at the University of Halle in 1769 , returned to America in 1770 and was ordained as a pastor. Until 1785 he was pastor at Holy Trinity Church in Lancaster. In 1787 he became a co-founder and first president of Franklin College, today Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, and was since 3 July 1791 with the academic surname Hierotheus IV. Member (matriculation no. 934) of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina . In 1801 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . Furthermore, he was in worldwide correspondence with naturalists such as Alexander von Humboldt and was known as the "American Linnaeus " due to his systematic studies .

Honors

The plant genus Muhlenbergia Schreb. from the sweet grass family (Poaceae) is named after him. He had discovered the grass species of the subfamily Chloridoideae , which is widespread in Mexico and the southwestern United States . Numerous plant species bear the specific epithet muhlenbergii in his honor . The species epithet of the moorland turtle ( Glyptemys muhlenbergii ) he discovered was also named after him.

Fonts

  • English-German and German-English dictionary: with a German grammar and principles of pronounciation for both languages. Lancaster: Hamilton 1812 (2 volumes)
  • Catalogus plantarum Americae septentrionalis, huc usque cognitarum indigenarum et cicurum: Or, A catalog of the hitherto known native and naturalized plants of North America. Lancaster: Hamilton 1813 ( digitized )

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Daniel Ferdinand Neigebaur : History of the Imperial Leopoldino-Carolinian German Academy of Natural Scientists during the second century of its existence. Friedrich Frommann, Jena 1860, p. 238
  2. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 173.
  3. ↑ 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 .
  4. ↑ See the entries on the species name muhlenbergii at IPNI
  5. ↑ Glyptemys muhlenbergii in Reptile Database
personal data
SURNAME Muhlenberg, Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Muhlenberg, Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst (full name); Muhlenberg, Henry Ernest
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American theologian and naturalist
DATE OF BIRTH November 17, 1753
PLACE OF BIRTH Bustard , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 1815
Place of death Lancaster , Pennsylvania , United States