Johan Ernst Gunnerus

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Johan Ernst Gunnerus
Cicuta virosa (panel from Flora Norvegica )
Gunnerus' monument

Johan Ernst Gunnerus (born February 26, 1718 in Christiania , † September 25, 1773 in Kristiansund ) was a Norwegian bishop , botanist , ornithologist , mycologist and zoologist . Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Gunnerus ".

Life

Gunnerus was the son of the city physician Rasmus Gunnerus and attended Christiana's cathedral school from 1729 to 1737, then from 1737 to 1740 the University of Copenhagen, from which he graduated with a baccalaureate. In 1742 he traveled on a royal scholarship to the universities in Halle and Jena , where he obtained a master's degree. He wrote his dissertation in 1747 at Jena on natural law issues. In 1754 he received an extraordinary professorship in theology at the University of Copenhagen. The following year he is ordained a vicar.

In 1758 he became bishop of the diocese of Nidaros of the Evangelical Lutheran Norwegian State Church based in Trondheim ( Nidaros Cathedral ) and professor of theology at the University of Copenhagen . He roamed the diocese of Nidaros on hikes and visitation trips as a tireless scientific collector. He was the first to describe and name numerous species, including the basking shark (named Squalus maximus in 1765) and the ice gull (named Lhhuperboreus GUNNERUS in 1767). Together with the historians Gerhard Schøning and Peter Friderich Suhm , he founded the academic society Det Trondhiemske Selskab ("The Trondheim Society") - an educational and scientific association. In 1767 this was given the name Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab (DKNVS, "Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences") by the Norwegian Crown . With his achievements and appearance, he was the bearer of hope for the efforts at that time to create an independent culture in the Danish province of Norway, which was not predetermined by the Danish capital Copenhagen. He worked systematically to found the first Norwegian university in Trondheim. But with the beheading of the reforming Count Johann Friedrich Struensee (1737–1772) in Copenhagen in 1772, these hopes ended abruptly. Johan Gunnerus published his main botanical work on the flora of Norway between 1766 and 1772. In doing so he created a standard work on botany.

He died on September 25, 1773 during a visitation trip to Kristiansund.

plant

Gunnerus was the first scientist to infer the existence of auroras around the Moon, Venus and Mercury from the fact that the Northern Lights are caused by the Sun.

His main botanical work is the two-volume Flora Norvegica (1766–1772).

As a zoologist and ornithologist he named several birds and animals, including in 1765 the basking shark and in his observations on Knud Leems Beskrivelse over Finmarkens lapper 1767 the greenshanks .

Honors

In honor of Gunnerus, Carl von Linné gave the plant genus Gunnera from the Gunneraceae family its name. The Gunnerus Library and the Gunnerus Medal of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences, as well as a research ship belonging to the Technical and Natural Sciences University of Norway, are named after Gunnerus .

Publications (selection)

  • Hans opvækkelige Hyrdebrev til det velærværdige, høj- og vellærde Præsteskab i Tronhjems Stift . JC Winding, Trondheim 1758 (Facsimile: Trondheim 1997, ISBN 82-7113-075-7 ; German edition: Awakening Shepherd's Letter to the Honorable, Highly and Well-Worn Priesthood in the Druntheim Abbey, translated from Danish into German by the author, and with some notes belonging to Druntheim scholarly history . Pelt, Trondheim 1758)
  • De modis adquirendi ius in re et praesertim dominium secundum principia iuris naturalis . Croeker, Jena 1747 (dissertation from the University of Jena)
  • Tractatus Philosophicus De Libertate Scientifice Adornatus , Cuno, Jena 1747
  • Proof of the reality and unity of God from reason , Jena 1748
  • Assessment of the proof of predetermined agreement , Jena and Leipzig 1748
  • Dissertatio philosophica, in qua demonstratur praescriptionem non esse iuris naturalis . Schill, Jena 1749 (dissertation from the University of Jena)
  • Complete explanation of natural and international law. According to the popular principles of Hofrath Darjes. In eight parts ... , Cröcker, Jena 1752
  • Imperfect bliss of this life . Funeral speech for Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Stöber. Jena 1753
  • Dissertatio philosophica continens caussam Dei, vulgo theodiceam, ratione originis et permissionis mali in mundo habita , Marggraf, Jena 1754
  • Institvtiones Theologiae Dogmaticae. Methodo, Uti Dicitur, Systematica, Inter Alia, Ad Vetustiores Theologos Felicius Intelligendos Conscriptae , Hartungius, Jena 1755
  • Ars heuristica intellectualis usibus auditorii adcommodata . Mumme, Leipzig 1756
  • Institutiones metaphysicae. Scholis academicis potissimum adcommodatae . Wentzel, Copenhagen and Leipzig 1757
  • Betragtninger over Sielens Udødelighed . Pelt, Copenhagen 1761 ( digitized version )
  • Flora Norvegica. Observationibus presertim oeconomicis panosque norvegici locupletata . Vingind, Trondheim 1766–1772 (German: Die Flora Norwegens)
  • Notes on Knud Leem: Beskrivelse over Finmarkens lapper. Their tungemaal, levemaade and forrige afgudsdyrkelse, oplyst ved short kaabberstykker . Salikath, Copenhagen 1767
  • Correspondence with Carl von Linné (edition: Brevveksling 1761-1772 , edited by Leiv Amundsen. Universitetsforlag, Trondheim, ISBN 82-00-23078-3 )

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names . Extended Edition. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Free University Berlin Berlin 2018. [1]

Web links

Commons : Johan Ernst Gunnerus  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Gunnerus, Johan Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian bishop, botanist, ornithologist and zoologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1718
PLACE OF BIRTH Christiania ( Oslo )
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 1773
Place of death Kristiansund