Leo Victor Felix Henckel von Donnersmarck

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Count Leo Victor Felix Henckel von Donnersmarck (born June 25, 1785 in Bartenstein , † June 10, 1861 in Ilmenau in Thuringia) was a Prussian chamberlain, secret councilor and botanist. Its botanical author abbreviation is Donnersm. or also " Henckel ".

Life

He comes from the younger line of the old Silesian Count House Henckel von Donnersmarck . His father was the later Lieutenant General Count Viktor Amadeus Henckel von Donnersmarck (1727-1793). His mother was Countess Eleonore Maximiliane Ottilie von Lepel (1756–1843). After the death of her husband, she was chief stewardess to the Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar and, as a result of this position, had many connections to the brilliant circle that the Weimar court had gathered around at that time. His sister Ottilie August von Goethe marries the son of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe .

The young Count Leo received his education after the death of his father in the house of the clergyman Dupasquier in Neuchâtel in Switzerland . His guardian was none other than Heinrich von Prussia, whose father had been his adjutant. After learning his mother tongue again with great effort, he devoted himself to legal and political studies at the University of Halle . He also attended scientific lectures and was fond of botany .

In 1808 he joined the Royal Chamber of War and Domains as a trainee lawyer (later the government of Königsberg ) and took part in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814 as a lieutenant and then returned to civilian service. After he had held the position of legation secretary at the Prussian legation in Vienna for a few years , he was appointed to the council in the government council of Breslau in 1817 . At his request he was transferred to Merseburg in the same capacity . There he worked uninterruptedly until 1847. In 1844 he was awarded the title of Privy Councilor.

The count was one of the few higher administrative officials who, at the time when the police state in Prussia was in full bloom, understood the situation from a higher and free point of view and acted accordingly. In his free time he was extensively involved in scientific research. He wrote numerous smaller literary works and essays. These mostly concerned the history and regional studies of Switzerland, in which he retained a warm interest until the end of his life, as well as various objects of natural history. Among other things, he made numerous contributions to the "General Encyclopedia" by Erf and Gruber . A collection of works on Switzerland and well-organized herbaria were found in his estate. Including the Georg Forster collection .

Honors

After him, the genus Henckelia is Spreng. named from the Gesneria family .

family

The count had been married to Reichsfreiin Therese von Bothmer (* March 13, 1807, † December 7, 1840) since November 12, 1827 . He left two sons:

  • Leo Amadeus Maximilian (* January 8, 1829 - December 27, 1895), Prussian Lieutenant General ⚭ November 8, 1853 Emma von Parry (* July 6, 1834 - May 8, 1912)
  • Friedrich Otto Maximilian (born August 8, 1833 - † October 7, 1878), canon in Meißen

literature

  • Our time , 1861, p. 716, digitized
  • Obituary in the magazine for the whole of natural science , Volume 17, p. 590 digitized
  • Walter Erhardt among others: The big pikeperch. Encyclopedia of Plant Names . Volume 2. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7

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

personal data
SURNAME Henckel von Donnersmarck, Leo Victor Felix
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian Chamberlain and Privy Councilor
DATE OF BIRTH June 25, 1785
PLACE OF BIRTH Bartenstein
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1861
Place of death Ilmenau , Thuringia