Robert Darwin

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Robert Darwin
oil painting by James Pardon

Robert Waring Darwin (born May 30, 1766 in Lichfield , † November 13, 1848 in Shrewsbury ) was an English doctor . He was the son of Erasmus Darwin and the father of Charles Darwin .

Live and act

Since he was twelve, Robert Darwin had been receiving lessons from private tutors according to a curriculum that his father, Erasmus Darwin, put together and which included numerous new subjects, e.g. B. horticulture , geological-mineralogical field work, chemical experiments, but also included accounting . He studied medicine at the University of Leiden and made there on February 26, 1785 with Dionysius Godefridus van der Keessel (1738-1816) his degree as a doctor of medicine. Under the title New Experiments on the Ocular Spectra of Light and Colors , he presented the content of his dissertation on March 23, 1786 to the Royal Society , which elected him to its member on February 21, 1788.

Following his studies, he settled in Shrewsbury as a doctor with the financial support of his father and soon enjoyed high recognition.

On April 18, 1796, Robert Darwin married in St. Marylebone ( Middlesex ) Susannah Wedgwood (January 3, 1765 - July 15, 1817), the daughter of the ceramic manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood , with whom he had six children:

  • Marianne Darwin (1798-1858)
  • Caroline Sarah Darwin (1800-1888)
  • Susan Elizabeth Darwin (1803-1866)
  • Erasmus Alvey Darwin (1804-1881)
  • Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882)
  • Emily Catherine Darwin (1810–1866)

In his autobiography , Charles Darwin characterized his father's appearance as follows:

"He was about 6 feet and 2 inches tall [approx. 188 cm], had broad shoulders and was very stout, making him the tallest man I have ever seen. The last time he weighed himself, he was 24 Stone [approx. 152 kg], but later became even heavier. "

Fonts

  • Dissertatio physico-medica inauguralis Experimenta nova de spectris seu imaginibus ocularibus coloratis exhibens: quae, objectis lucidioribus antea visis, in oculo clauso vel averso percipiuntur, quam annunete summo numine, ex aoritate ... per graduysii Godefridi doctor van der Keessel ... , summisque in medicina honoribus et privilegiis rite et legitime consequendis . Leiden 1785 - dissertation
  • New Experiments on the Ocular Spectra of Light and Colors. By Robert Waring Darwin, MD; Communicated by Erasmus Darwin, MDFRS In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society . Volume 76, 1786, pp. 313-348. online , pdf

literature

  • Robert Darwin, FRS (1761-1848) Splendid Country Doctor In: The Journal of the College of General Practitioners . Volume 8, No. 3, November 1964, pp. 384-2-388 and 389-390, PMC 1878367 (free full text)
  • Ilse Jahn: Charles Darwin . Urania-Verlag: Leipzig 1982, pp. 7-14

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Francis Darwin: (Editor): The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin . Adamant Media Corporation 2001, p. 8. ISBN 1-4021-8387-9
  2. ^ Francis Darwin: The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter . London: John Murray 1887. Volume 1, p. 28 online

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Darwin, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Darwin, Robert Waring (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English doctor, son of Erasmus Darwin , father of Charles Darwin
DATE OF BIRTH May 30, 1766
PLACE OF BIRTH Lichfield
DATE OF DEATH November 13, 1848
Place of death Shrewsbury