Robert Laugier

Robert François de Laugier (born February 5, 1722 in Nancy , Duchy of Lorraine, † December 17, 1793 in Reggio , Archduchy of Tuscany Austria-Este, HRR) was a Lorraine chemist, botanist and pharmacist. He taught as a professor at the University of Vienna and was the first director of the university's botanical garden .

Life

His parents were Nancy-based pharmacist Jean François Laugier and his wife Barbe Gerard. The career of his older brother, the imperial personal physician Alexander Ludwig Laugier, influenced Robert Laugier's life. He studied medicine and chemistry in his hometown. After his interest in horticulture and plant cultivation, he was sent to Vienna on the recommendation of Duke Leopold of Lorraine. In 1749 he was appointed professor of chemistry and botany at the University of Vienna , after this chair had been re-established there after the two chairs were merged. His tasks included the establishment of a botanical university garden on Rennweg, of which he was director from 1754 to 1768. At this time, Laugier increasingly came into conflict with Gerard van Swieten , Maria Theresa's personal physician and dean of the medical faculty. Among other things, Swieten criticized Laugier's lack of knowledge of Latin and in a memorandum he only paid tribute to Laugier's efforts for the university to build the anatomical theater , although he himself did not classify them as unselfish. He obtained a cut in Laugier's salary, and when Laugier asked for his release, he agreed to it, even though he insisted that she was not his target. However, he or Maria Theresa did not grant the desired pension. Laugier's successor as professor and gardening director was Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin . Robert Laugier then taught in Modena until 1783 . He died in Reggio in 1793.

His three-part pharmaceutical textbook Institutiones pharmaceuticae sive philosophia pharmaceutica (Modena 1788 and 1791) is one of his best-known works to this day.

literature

Pierre Labrude: Robert François (de) Laugier (1722-1793): un médecin lorrain dans l'Europe des Lumières. In: Vesalius XI, II, 2005, pp. 76-80 ( PDF ).

Individual evidence

↑ Vienna history sheets . Volumes 50–51, Association for the History of the City of Vienna, 1995, p. 139.
^ Wilfrid Oberhummer: The chemistry at the University of Vienna in the period from 1749 to 1848 and the holder of the chair for chemistry and botany. In: Fritz Felgenhauer, Rudolf Jagodtisch, Ernst Bernleithner, Wilfrid Oberhummer: Studies on the history of the University of Vienna. Volume III. Commissioned by Hermann Böhlau, Graz 1965, pp. 128–136.

personal data
SURNAME	Laugier, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Laugier, Robert François de (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Lorraine chemist, botanist and pharmacist
DATE OF BIRTH	February 5, 1722
PLACE OF BIRTH	Nancy , Duchy of Lorraine
DATE OF DEATH	December 17, 1793
Place of death	Reggio , Archduchy of Tuscany Austria-Este, HRR

[1] Vienna history sheets . Volumes 50–51, Association for the History of the City of Vienna, 1995, p. 139.

[2] Wilfrid Oberhummer: The chemistry at the University of Vienna in the period from 1749 to 1848 and the holder of the chair for chemistry and botany. In: Fritz Felgenhauer, Rudolf Jagodtisch, Ernst Bernleithner, Wilfrid Oberhummer: Studies on the history of the University of Vienna. Volume III. Commissioned by Hermann Böhlau, Graz 1965, pp. 128–136.