Etimologia botanica
di Alexandre de Théis
1810

Biografie botaniche

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Haenke

Thaddäus Xaverius Peregrinus Haenke (Czech: Tadeáš Haenke; Spanish: Tadeo Haenke; 6 December 1761 – 14 November 1816) was a Bohemian geographer and explorer in South America. Thaddaeus Haenke was born of ethnic German extraction in the Bohemian village of Kreibnitz (now Chřibská), near the Sudeten Mountains in what is today the Czech Republic in 1761. A keen observer of nature from childhood, this aptitude was cultivated throughout his education at the Jesuit college in Prague, and later at Carolus University, where he studied medicine, botany and astronomy. He undertook a study of the botany of the Giant Range (German: Riesengebirge) of the Sudeten Mountains for the Royal Bohemian Academy of Science and, upon obtaining his degree of Magister in 1786, moved to Vienna. His botanical work took him to the Tyrol, Carinthia and Styria. He came to the notice of Ignaz von Born and Nikolaus Joseph Jacquin, influential savants who put his name forward in July 1789 when the Spanish Government was recruiting for the Malaspina expedition. Prior to this, Born had proposed to Emperor Joseph II an Austrian expedition to the Pacific comparable to those led by James Cook. The expedition would have been commanded by William Bolts, of the Imperial Asiatic Company of Trieste. Although the Emperor was initially enthusiastic, the venture eventually proved impossible to realize, principally because of the bankruptcy of the Imperial Asiatic Company of Trieste. The Emperor gave Bolts leave to take his proposal to other courts friendly to Austria, and Bolts put placed it before the French Government, which adopted the concept (though not its author) leading to the sending out of the Lapérouse expedition. Haenke presumably would have been stimulated by the discussion associated with the schemes for round the world voyages of exploration to consider the advantages of participating in such an undertaking, and in fact he spent the period from September 1787 to May 1788 in anticipation of joining a proposed Russian expedition to the Pacific under the command of Grigory I. Mulovsky. He would have been the assistant to the proposed expedition’s chief scientist, Georg Forster, who had accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on James Cook's expedition of 1772–1775. The Mulovsky expedition was prevented from leaving the Baltic by the outbreak of war with Sweden in 1787. Following cancellation of the expedition, Haenke applied to fill the position of Professor of Natural History at the University of Vilna (Vilnius) which Forster had vacated in anticipation of taking up his new post with the Russians, but when preparation of the Malaspina Expedition was announced, he expressed interest in joining it. A long journey from Vienna brought Haenke by way of Munich, Strasbourg, Paris, Bordeaux, Biarritz and Madrid (where he was formally received into the expedition as “Naturalist–Botánico de Su Magestad”) to Cadiz just five hours after the two ships of the expedition, the Descubierta and Atrevida, had set sail from that port. He sailed on a following vessel, intending to catch up with the expedition in Buenos Aires. This vessel was wrecked close to Montevideo, and the intrepid Haenke was forced to swim for the shore, salvaging from his luggage (it is said) only his copy of Linnaeus, which he carried in a nightcap. Having in this way missed the expedition again, he hired guides for a trek overland across the pampas and Andes to Santiago de Chile, where he caught up with Malaspina in April 1790. Thereafter he continued with the expedition during its visits to Peru, Guayaquil, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, the North West American coast, California, Mexico again, Guam, the Philippines, New Zealand, New South Wales and Vavao, arriving again at Callao, Peru in June 1793. Here he left the ships to again cross overland to Buenos Aires, with the intention of undertaking botanical and other scientific work along the way. Instead, he stayed in Peru, continuing to work as Royal Botanist. In 1810 he was ordered to return to Spain but the political situation caused him to decide to remain in Peru, where he had an estate at Yuracaré, near Cochabamba, in what is now Bolivia. He continued his botanical and other scientific work, remaining in regular contact with his homeland through a Bohemian glass trading company. He died in Cochabamba of accidental poisoning (it is said) in 1816, aged 54. After he joined it in Santiago de Chile on 2 April 1790 the Malaspina Expedition lasted another three years during which Haenke collected several thousand plants. During the expedition’s stay at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, in March–April 1793, he carried out observations and collection relating to the natural history of the place, as he reported to the colony’s patron, Sir Joseph Banks. Haenke's work in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile finally contributed to the creation of the smallpox vaccine. During his expedition through the Atacama desert, he discovered a method for transforming Chile saltpeter and Potassium chloride into Potassium nitrate. Furthermore, he improved explosives and gun powder, giving his results to the Spanish army. He was the first European to discover the largest water lily Victoria amazonica (in 1801) and advocated the medicinal benefit of hot springs. Haenke Island in Alaska and the plant Juncus haenkei were named after him. The standard author abbreviation Haenke is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name. Work: Carl Bořivoj Presl Reliquiae Haenkeanae: seu descriptiones et icones plantarum, quas in America meridionali et boreali, in insulis Philippinis et Marianis collegit Thaddaeus Haenke. J.G. Calve, Prague, 1830.

Hales

Stephen Hales (Bekesbourne, 1677 – Teddington, 1761) è stato un botanico, chimico e teologo inglese. Reverendo inglese, è considerato uno dei fondatori della fisiologia vegetale. La sua opera principale, Statical Essays (1727), è un trattato di fisiologia generale la cui parte botanica venne pubblicata separatamente in un secondo tempo con il nuovo titolo Vegetable Staticks. Fu il primo a dimostrare, pur non distinguendo nessun gas specifico, che l'aria aveva un ruolo determinante nei processi chimici. Le sue ricerche rappresentarono un punto di riferimento fondamentale per lo sviluppo della chimica pneumatica e per la fondazione della rivoluzione chimica di Lavoisier.

Haller

Albrecht von Haller (Berna, 16 ottobre 1708 – Berna, 12 dicembre 1777) è stato un medico e poeta svizzero. Figlio di Niklaus Emanuel e di Anna Maria Engel, dopo gli studi secondari nella Hohe Schule di Berna, dal 1723 studiò medicina a Tubinga e dal 1725 a Leida laureandosi nel 1727. Nel 1728 insieme con Johannes Gessner, viaggia attraverso i paesi alpini, acquisendo un'esperienza importante tanto per i suoi interessi botanici che letterari. L'anno dopo, a Basilea, segue i corsi di matematica tenuti da Johann Bernoulli; medico a Berna dal 1729, nel 1735 istituì un theatrum anatomicum per il perfezionamento professionale dei medici. Aveva pubblicato nel 1732 la raccolta di poesie Versuch Schweizerischer Gedichten; nella sua opera poetica esalta la montagna e la vita dei suoi abitanti, che contrappone ai corrotti costumi delle città e vede nella natura la presenza divina, criticando – come Beat Ludwig von Muralt – l'influenza francese nella poesia. Dal 1736 al 1753 insegnò anatomia, botanica e chirurgia a Gottinga, fondandovi l'istituto di anatomia, il giardino botanico e, nel 1751, la Reale Società delle scienze di cui fu presidente. Tornato a Berna nel 1753 assunse la carica di Intendente del palazzo comunale, dal 1758 al 1764 fu direttore di saline e dal 1762 al 1763 vice balivo di Aigle. Nel 1764 acquistò la signoria di Goumoens–le–Jux, assumendo così il nome di "Haller de Goumoëns". Nelle Icones anatomicae descrisse per primo (1743–1756) la circolazione arteriosa nel corpo umano e pubblicò i suoi Primi lineamenti di fisiologia nel 1747; studiò le proprietà del sistema nervoso e muscolare nel De partibus corporis humani sensilibus et irritabilibus, del 1752, respingendo le interpretazioni materialistiche di Julien Offray de La Mettrie; studiò anche lo sviluppo degli embrioni; nel 1766 pubblicò gli Elementa physiologiae corporis humani.

Hamilton

Dr Francis Buchanan, later known as Francis Hamilton but often referred to as Francis Buchanan–Hamilton (15 February 1762 – 15 June 1829) was a Scottish physician who made significant contributions as a geographer, zoologist, and botanist while living in India. The standard botanical author abbreviation Buch.–Ham. is applied to plants and animals he described, though today the form "Hamilton, 1822" is more usually seen in ichthyology and is preferred by Fishbase. He was born Francis Buchanan at Bardowie, Callander, Perthshire; his family originated in Spittal and claimed the chiefdom of the name of Buchanan. Francis studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. After several voyages on Merchant Navy ships to Asia, he served in the Bengal Medical Service from 1794 to 1815. He also studied botany under John Hope in Edinburgh. From 1803 to 1804 he was surgeon to the Governor General of India Lord Wellesley in Calcutta, where he also organized a zoo that was to become the Calcutta Alipore Zoo. In 1799, after the defeat of Tippu Sultan and the fall of Mysore, he was asked to survey South India resulting in A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar (1807). He also wrote An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal (1819). From 1807 to 1814, under the instructions of the government of Bengal, he made a comprehensive survey of the areas within the jurisdiction of the British East India Company. He was asked to report on topography, history, antiquities, the condition of the inhabitants, religion, natural productions (particularly fisheries, forests, mines, and quarries), agriculture (covering vegetables, implements, manure, floods, domestic animals, fences, farms, and landed property, fine and common arts, and commerce (exports and imports, weights and measures, and conveyance of goods). His conclusions are reported in a series of treatises that are retained in major United Kingdom libraries; many have been re–issued in modern editions. They include an important work on Indian fish species, entitled An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches (1822), which describes over 100 species not formerly recognised scientifically. He also collected and described many new plants in the region, and collected a series of watercolours of Indian and Nepalese plants and animals, probably painted by Indian artists, which are now in the library of the Linnean Society of London. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May, 1806. He succeeded William Roxburgh to become the Superintendent of the Calcutta botanical garden in 1814, but had to return to Britain in 1815 due to his ill health. In an interesting incident the notes that he took of Hope's botany lectures in 1780 was lent to his shipmate Alexander Boswell during a voyage in 1785. Boswell, lost the notes in Satyamangalam in Mysore and the notes went into the hands of Tippu Sultan who had them rebound. In 1800 they were found in Tippu's library by a major who returned it to Buchanan. Buchanan left India in 1815, and in the same year inherited his mother's estate and in consequence took her surname of Hamilton, referring to himself as "Francis Hamilton, formerly Buchanan" or simply "Francis Hamilton". However he is variously referred to by others as "Buchanan–Hamilton", "Francis Hamilton Buchanan" or "Francis Buchanan Hamilton". The standard author abbreviation Buch.–Ham. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Hasselquist

Fredrik Hasselquist (3 January 1722 – 9 February 1752) was a Swedish traveller and naturalist. Hasselquist was born at Törnevalla, which is two kilometers east of Linghem, Östergötland. On account of the frequently expressed regrets of Carolus Linnaeus, under whom he studied at Uppsala University (and being of his apostles), at the lack of information regarding the natural history of Palestine, Hasselquist resolved to undertake a journey to that country. With a sufficient subscription having been obtained to defray expenses, he reached Smyrna towards the end of 1749. He visited parts of Asia Minor, Egypt, Cyprus and Palestine, making large natural history collections, but his constitution, naturally weak, gave way under the fatigues of travel, and he died near Smyrna on his way home. His collections reached home in safety, and five years after his death his notes were published by Linnaeus under the title Iter Palæstinum, Eller Resa til Heliga Landet, Förrättad Ifrån år 1749 til 1752, which was translated into French and German in 1762 and into English in 1766 (as Voyages and Travels in the Levant, in the Years 1749, 50, 51, 52). He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1750. The standard author abbreviation Hasselq. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Hayne

Friedrich Gottlob Hayne ( 18 de marzo 1763 Jüterbog – † 28 de abril 1832 ) fue un botánico, farmacéutico y profesor universitario alemán. Estaba laureado en Botánica y en Micología „Hayne“. De 1778 a 1796 fue farmacéutico en Berlin; para luego comenzar trabajos de Botánica con Carl Ludwig Willdenow. En 1797 continua trabajando en Prusia. De 1801 a 1808 trabaja en Schönebeck (Elbe); como asistente en la „Königlichen Preußischen Chemischen Fabrique“ (Hermania), y en 1793 con el farmacéutico Carl Samuel Hermann instalan la primera industria química alemana. Y para esa época en Schönebeck, examina las mejores construcciones para la fábrica, mientras aún tiene tiempo para recolectar flora. Debido al Tratado de paz de Tilsit de 1807, el Imperio Prusiano pierde la mitad de su territorio. Hayne se muda en 1808 a Berlín. A partir de 1811 es docente de Botánica, de la Universidad de Berlín. En 1814 oposiciona y gana la cátedra de profesor extraordinario. Y luego de largos años de enseñar, recién en 1828 es profesor de Botánica Farmacéutica. Realiza frecuentes excursiones botánicas. Hayne realiza 600 ilustraciones de plantas representativas de interés farmacéutica. Obra: Termini botanici iconibus illustrati, oder botanische Kunstsprache durch Abbildungen erläutert. 2 vols., 1799–1812, Neuausgabe 1817 – Botanisches Bilderbuch für die Jugend und Freunde der Pflanzenkunde. 5 vols., 1798–1819, junto con Friedrich Dreves – Getreue Darstellung und Beschreibung der in der Arzneykunde gebräuchlichen Gewächse wie auch solcher, welche mit ihnen verwechselt werden können (Representaciones y descripciones de las plantas usuales en Arzneykunde y de los errores presentados). 11 vols., 1805–1846 (y continuado por Johann Friedrich Brandt, Julius Theodor Christian Ratzeburg y Johann Friedrich Klotzsch) – Getreue Darstellung und Beschreibung der in der Technologie gebräuchlichen Gewächse ("Representaciones y descripciones de las plantas usuales en tecnología " . 1809 – Abbildungen der deutschen Holzarten. 2 vols. con 216 ilustraciones coloreadas a mano, 1810–1920, junto con Friedrich Guimpel y Carl Ludwig Willdenow. – Abbildungen der fremden, in Deutschland ausdauernden Holzarten ( Imágenes e Ilustraciones de diferentes maderas nativas y exóticas. 24 textos de ejercicio y 144 ilustraciones coloreadas, 1819–1830, junto con Friedrich Guimpel y Cristoph Friedrich Otto – Dendrologische Flora oder Beschreibung der in Deutschland im Freien ausdauernden Holzgewächse, ein Handbuch für Kameralisten, Forstmänner, Gartenbesitzer, Landwirthe … (" Flora Dendrológica o descripción de árboles maderables de Alemania, y un manual de listas, forestaciones, dueños de jardines) 1822.  La abreviatura Hayne se emplea para indicar a Friedrich Gottlob Hayne como autoridad en la descripción y clasificación científica de los vegetales.

Hebenstreit

Johann Ernst Hebenstreit (January 15, 1703 – December 5, 1757) was a German physician and naturalist born in Neustadt an der Orla. He was a student at the University of Leipzig, where in 1728 he earned his philosophy degree, and in 1729 his medical doctorate. 1731 he became a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. In 1731 he was appointed by Augustus II to head an expedition to Africa to collect natural history specimens and to procure wild animals for the royal menagerie. After Augustus' death in 1733, the mission was discontinued, and Hebenstreit returned to Leipzig as a professor of medicine and anatomy. During turmoil surrounding the May Uprising in Dresden (1849), specimens collected from the African expedition were lost. Among Hebenstreits' numerous written works was an influential 1751 study of forensic medicine called Anthropologia Forensis sistens medici circa rempublicam, and an illustrated catalogue involving the collection of minerals, fossils, and gems assembled by Leipzig banker Johann Christoph Richter (1689–1751) called Museum Richterianum continens fossilia animalia, vegetabilia marina. Carl Linnaeus named the plant genus Hebenstreitia in honor of Hebenstreit.

Hedwig

Johann Hedwig (Kronstadt, 8 dicembre 1730 – Lipsia, 7 febbraio 1799) è stato un botanico tedesco. Studiò medicina a Lipsia, ma, tornato a Kronstadt, non la poté esercitare, perché le leggi esigevano che il diploma fosse conseguito a Vienna. Si stabilì a Chemnitz in Sassonia, ove iniziò i suoi studi botanici sulle graminacee e sulle crittogame. Nel 1781 tornò a Lipsia, prima come medico presso l'ospedale, poi, nel 1786, come professore di medicina e finalmente, dal 1789, come professore di botanica e ispettore del giardino botanico. Osservatore sagace ed esperto microscopista, impostò su nuove basi lo studio delle crittogame, e particolarmente delle briofite, nella sua opera Fundamentum historiae naturalis muscorum frondosorum (Lipsia 1782–83) e nell'altra: Theoria generationis et fructificationis plantarum cryptogamarum (Petropoli 1784). Meritevole di particolare menzione è pure la sua Descriptio et adumbratio microscopico–analytica muscorum frondosorum, con 160 tavole colorate (Lipsia 1787–97). Al suo nome fu intitolato il periodico Hedwigia, fondato dal Rabenhorst nel 1852, e che tuttora continua, dedicato allo studio delle crittogame.

Hellenius

Carl Niclas Hellenius, myöh. von Hellens (1745 – 1820), oli kasvitieteilijä ja Turun Akatemian talousopin ja luonnonhistorian professori. Hellenius aloitti opintonsa Turun Akatemiassa vuonna 1764 ja opiskeli aluksi luonnonhistoriaa Pehr Kalmin ja kemiaa Pehr Adrian Gaddin johdolla. Lääketieteen professori Johan Haartman sai hänet kuitenkin kiinnostumaan lääketieteestä. Hellenius lähtikin 1774 jatkamaan opintojaan Uppsalan yliopistoon, josta valmistui lääketieteen tohtoriksi vuonna 1777. Uppsalan yliopistossa hän oli mm. Carl von Linnén oppilaana. Hellenius palasi Turkuun vuonna 1778, jossa hän toimi lyhyen aikaa akatemiassa lääketieteen opettajana. Samalla hän tutki kasvitiedettä. Talousopin professuuria hoitaneen Pehr Kalmin kuoltua vuonna 1779 hän haki tältä vapautunutta virkaa, muttei tullut valituksi. Vuonna 1780 hänet nimitettiin akatemian kasvitieteellisen puutarhan esimieheksi, jossa tehtävässä hän myös opetti kasvitiedettä opiskelijoille. Talousopin professoriksi 1780 nimitetyn Salomon Kreanderin kuoltua vuonna 1792 virka nimettiin uudelleen talousopin ja luonnonhistorian professuuriksi. Tämä johtui siitä, että ns. hyödyn aikakaudelle tyypillinen ajattelu oli väistymässä, ja hyödyn lisäksi haluttiin huomioida tieteellisiä tavoitteita. Hellenius haki uudelleen virkaa, ja tuli tällä kertaa valituksi. Hän toimi akatemian rehtorina vuosina 1789 ja 1802. Hellenius oli varsin uuttera tutkija ja kirjoittaja. Luonnonhistoria oli hänen aikanaan enimmäkseen lajien kuvausta, mutta joskus von Hellens sivusi kirjoituksissaan yleisen biologian aiheita. Kasvitieteen ohella hän oli kiinnostunut eläintieteestä, erityisesti linnuista ja hyönteisistä. Von Hellens teki myös suuren työn Turun akatemian kasvitieteen hyväksi. Hän järjesti kasvitieteellisen puutarhan uudelleen ja kartutti sen lajimäärän parista sadasta yli kahteen tuhanteen. Lisäksi hän kartutti akatemian kasvikokoelmaa. Akatemian kokoelmat kuitenkin tuhoutuivat Turun suurpalossa vuonna 1827. Hellenius jäi eläkkeelle vuonna 1816, jolloin hänet aateloitiin. Tässä yhteydessä hän muutti nimensä muotoon von Hellens. Hänen seuraajakseen professorin virkaan nimitettiin Carl Reinhold Sahlberg.

Helwing

Georg Andreas Helwing (Polish: Jerzy Andrzej Helwing) (14 December 1666 – 3 January 1748) was a botanist and Lutheran pastor. Helwing was born in Angerburg (Węgorzewo) in Brandenburg–Prussia's Duchy of Prussia. He became a "remote member" of the Prussian Academy of Sciences on 31 August 1709. Helwing discovered and introduced several plants, Helwingia is named after him. He became knows as the Tournefortius Borussicus and Prussian Plinius. In 1999, the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn was founded with reference to him.

Hermann

Paul Hermann (30 June 1646, Halle, Saxony–Anhalt – 29 January 1695, Leiden) was a German born physician and botanist who for 15 years was director of the Hortus Botanicus Leiden. Born in Halle, Germany, Paul Hermann was the son of Johann Hermann, a well–known organist, and Maria Magdalena Röber, a clergyman's daughter. After graduating from Europe's finest medical school, Padua, he was then engaged by the Dutch East India Company and went to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) as a Ship's Medical Officer. He was in their employ from 1672 to 1677. During his stay there, he made a scientific collection of this island's plants and other organisms. He was then offered the job at Leiden and took up the Chair of Botany at the University of Leiden in 1679 where he spent the rest of his professional life. He immediately set to making it the finest botanical garden in Europe. Hermann's Paradisus batavus, a description of the plants of the Leyden university botanical garden, was published three years after his death in 1698 and edited by William Sherard. Sherard edited his notes and solicited patronage for the publication of this important book. They were students together in Paris of Tournefort in 1688. Later Sherard collected more of his notes and produced a catalogue published as Musaeum Zeylanicum (1717, 2nd edn.: 1727). Hermann's original Ceylon collection was used by Carolus Linnaeus when he wrote his Flora Zeylanica (1747) and Species plantarum (1753), using the abbreviation "Hermann herb." in those publications. After Hermann's collections had passed through many hands, they were eventually purchased by Sir Joseph Banks. Now they are kept at the Natural History Museum in London. Hermann was a very good botanical illustrator and had an excellent botanical grasp as declared by Linnaeus himself. The standard author abbreviation Herm. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Hernández

Francisco Hernández de Toledo (La Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo 1514 – Madrid 28 January 1587) was a naturalist and court physician to the King of Spain. Hernández was among the first wave of Spanish Renaissance physicians practicing according to the revived principles formulated by Hippocrates, Galen and Avicenna. Hernández studied medicine and botany at the University of Alcalá and may have traveled between cities in Spain as was common among physicians seeking to make a name for themselves. Moving from Seville with his wife and children, Hernández served briefly in the Hospital y Monasterio de Guadalupe and then at the Hospital Mendoza in Toledo, where he gained prominence for his studies of medicinal botany and publication of a Castilian translation of a work on natural history by Pliny the Elder. In 1567 Hernández became a personal physician to King Philip II. In 1570 Hernández was ordered to embark on the first scientific mission in the New World, a study of the region's medicinal plants. Accompanied by his son Juan, he traveled for 7 years collecting and classifying specimens, interviewing the indigenous people through translators and conducting medical studies in Mexico. He was assisted by three indigenous painters (baptized, Antón, Baltazar Elías and Pedro Vázquez respectively), who prepared illustrations. During the 1576 yellow fever ("cocoliztle") epidemic Hernández performed autopsies in the Hospital Real de San José de los Naturales in collaboration with surgeon Alonso López de Hinojosos and physician Juan de la Fuente. Parts of Francisco Hernández's extensive descriptions of his findings were published in a translated collection entitled Plantas y Animales de la Nueva Espana, y sus virtudes por Francisco Hernandez, y de Latin en Romance por Fr. Francisco Ximenez (Mexico, 1615) also cited as Cuatro libros de la naturaleza y virtudes de las plantas y animales que están recibidos en uso de medicina en la Nueva España published by Francisco Jiménez. A heavily redacted compendium in the original Latin was later published as Rerum medicarum Novae Hispaniae thesaurus (Rome, 1628) by collector, Federico Cesi. Another impression was put out by Johannes Schreck and Fabio Colonna as Nova plantarum, animalium et mineralium mexicanorum historia a Francisco Hernández in indis primum compilata, de inde a Nardo Antonio Reccho in volumen digesta (Rome: Vital Mascardi, 1648). Some of Hernández' original manuscripts are housed in the library of the Escorial, but many were lost in the fire of July 17, 1671. A new compilation by physician Casimiro Gómez Ortega, based on additional material found in the Colegio Imperial de los Jesuitas de Madrid was entitled Francisci Hernandi, medici atque historici Philippi II, hispan et indiar. Regis, et totius novi orbis archiatri. Opera, cum edita, tum medita, ad autobiographi fidem et jusu regio (1790).

Herrera

Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas (Cuéllar, 1559 – Madrid, 27 marzo 1625) è stato uno storico spagnolo. Nacque in Cuéllar, una cittadina in provincia di Segovia, in una famiglia benestante, composta da Rodrigo de Tordesillas e da Inés de Herrera. Fece i suoi studi di legge e filosofia in Spagna, ma ben presto si recò in Italia in qualità di segretario di Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna, fratello del duca di Mantova. Tornò in Spagna, al suo seguito, quando questi venne insignito del titolo e delle funzioni di viceré, prima di Navarra e in seguito di Valenza. Il Gonzaga aveva apprezzato le doti del suo segretario e ne aveva tessuto le lodi al Re Filippo II che era rimasto favorevolmente colpito. Alla morte del viceré, avvenuta a Sabbioneta, nel 1591, il monarca spagnolo si ricordò del giovane letterato e lo chiamò alla sua Corte, nominandolo storiografo delle Indie e di Castiglia e León. L’impiego era autorevole e ben remunerato e assecondava le inclinazioni di Herrera, permettendogli di occuparsi degli studi che più gli erano congeniali: la stesura di una storia degli avvenimenti delle lontane colonie americane, tramite la raccolta ufficiale di tutte le notizie trasmesse in Spagna. Da quel momento si dedicò alla stesura di alcune delle opere più complete e importanti sulla storia delle colonie spagnole in America. Non tralasciò comunque le vicende europee e diede alle stampe numerose e incisive ricostruzioni dei più celebrati fatti del suo tempo. Datano in quegli anni le sue pubblicazioni sulla figura di Maria Stuarda e sulla storia di Francia dal 1585 al 1594. Parimenti celebrò il suo Re, Filippo II e ricostruì le vicende delle guerre italiane. La sua opera più importante resta comunque la Historia de los Hechos de los Castellanos en las Mas y Tierra Firme del Mar Oceano que llaman Indias Occidentales, conosciuta come Décadas (Madrid, 1601–1615, 4 voll.), sviluppata secondo una ricostruzione cronologica e divisa per decadi, da cui appunto il titolo con cui viene comunemente ricordata: “Decades de Antonio de Herrera”. In essa gli avvenimenti spagnoli del Nuovo Mondo sono riportati con una meticolosità che solo la funzione esercitata dal suo autore poteva consentire. Herrera, nello svolgimento della sua carica, aveva accesso a tutte le relazioni e a tutti i documenti che provenivano dalle Colonie. Molte di queste testimonianze sono andate perdute e ci sono pervenute solo attraverso la penna di Herrera. Purtroppo l’eminente storico, spesso, non ha ritenuto di citare le sue fonti, ma permangono, comunque, le notizie che ha riportato. Altre volte Herrera non si è peritato di trascrivere, letteralmente, pagine intere di relazioni altrui, ma questo non inficia l’attendibilità della sua opera che era volta a tramandare dei fatti e non a interpretarne le cause o le conseguenze. Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas mantenne la sua carica durante i regni di tre sovrani di Spagna, quelli di Filippo II, di Filippo III e di Filippo IV. Quando infine si spense in Madrid, nel 1625, era stato nominato segretario personale del monarca in carica. La data esatta della sua morte è stata più volte contestata dagli storici moderni, finché un documento del 1897 ne ha fissato esattamente i termini. Si tratta di una testimonianza ufficiale resa da un notaio, Hurtado de Limosin, davanti al quale, Herrera, mentre era in atto di fare una deposizione, fu colto dal malore che, in pochi giorni lo avrebbe portato alla morte. Il “Coronista Mayor de Las Indias” si spense il 27 di marzo del 1625 e non il 13 marzo come spesso è riportato. L’equivoco nasce, probabilmente, dal fatto che la data del 13 marzo, che è quella del collasso dello storico, venne presa per la data del decesso. Era sposato con una dama di nobili natali, Doña María de Torres, che gli sopravvisse fino al 1641. Non risulta che fossero nati dei figli da questo matrimonio.

Heucher

Johann Heinrich von Heucher (* 1. Januar 1677 in Wien; † 23. Februar 1747 in Dresden) war ein Naturwissenschaftler und der Leibarzt von August dem Starken. Sein offizielles botanisches Autorenkürzel lautet „Heuch.“. Er war naturwissenschaftlich außerordentlich gebildet und einer der ersten prägenden Menschen in den Bereichen der Zoologie, Mineralogie und Geologie für die heutigen Museen. In den Jahren von 1720 bis zu seinem Tod 1747 war Heucher General– und Spezial–Inspektor der Galleries des Sciences in Dresden und zuständig für alle naturhistorischen Sammlungen. Inhaltsverzeichnis Er wurde von seinen Eltern als zwölfjähriger bereits nach Wittenberg gebracht, wo er sich am 25. Juli 1689 an der Universität Wittenberg immatrikulierte. Am 26. April 1694 erwarb er sich den akademischen Grad eines Magisters an der philosophischen Fakultät der Universität, wurde dann Substitut von Johann Baptist Röschel und half Paul Gottfried Sperling. Dabei machte er sich durch die Herstellung anatomischer Präparate einen Namen. Nachdem er am 7. April 1700 das Lizentiat der Medizin erwarb und am 26. April 1700 zum Doktor der Medizin promovierte, übernahm er 1706 von Röschel die Professur der Physik. Während der Zeit seiner Professur vermehrte er sie Sammlungen der medizinischen Präparate und veröffentlichte ein erstes Verzeichnis der Pflanzen des botanischen Gartens der Universität Wittenberg. Seine Umgestaltungen in Museen genügten den damals modernsten wissenschaftlichen Ansprüchen und konnten den Gelehrten das notwendige Material für ihre Forschungen zur Verfügung stellen. 1746 wurde für die Hauptbibliothek die 4000 Bände umfassende Privatbibliothek Heuchers für 5000 Taler aufgekauft. Heuchers botanische Kenntnisse und seine Forschungen auf dem Gebiet müssen für die damalige Zeit sehr bedeutend gewesen sein. Er verfasste auch Werke auf dem Gebiet der Medizin und Mineralogie. Carl von Linné benannte ihm zu Ehren die Gattung Heuchera (Purpurglöckchen) der Pflanzenfamilie der Steinbrechgewächse (Saxifragaceae).

Hill

John Hill (c. 1716 – 21 November 1775), called because of his Swedish honours, "Sir" John Hill, was an English author and botanist. He contributed to contemporary periodicals and was awarded the title of Sir in recognition of his illustrated botanical compendium The Vegetable System. He was the son of the Rev. Theophilus Hill and is said to have been born in Peterborough. He was apprenticed to an apothecary and on the completion of his apprenticeship he set up in a small shop in St Martin's Lane, Westminster. He also travelled over the country in search of rare herbs, with a view to publishing a hortus siccus, but the plan failed. He had a medical degree from Edinburgh, and he practised as a "quack doctor", making considerable sums by the preparation of vegetable medicines.

Hoffmann

Georg Franz Hoffmann was a German botanist and lichenologist, who was born January 13, 1760 in Marktbreit, Germany, and died March 17, 1826 in Moscow, Russia. After graduating from the University of Erlangen in 1786, he worked there between 1787 and 1792 as a professor of botany. Between 1792 and 1803 he was Head of the Botany Department and Director of the Botanical Garden of Göttingen University. Already a famous botanist, in particular for his work on lichens, he settled in Moscow in January 1804 and directed the Department of Botany at University of Moscow, as well as the Botanical garden. Work: Descriptio et adumbratio plantarum e classe cryptogámica Linnaei qua lichenes dicuntur... (1789–1801). In 1787, Olof Peter Swartz (1760–1818) dedicated the genus Hoffmannia of the Rubiaceae to him. The author abbreviation used to indicate Georg Franz Hoffmann as the authority for species names is Hoffm.

Hoffmannsegg

Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg / Johann Centurius Hoffmann Graf von Hoffmannsegg (Dresda, 23 agosto 1766 – Dresda, 13 dicembre 1849) è stato un botanico, entomologo e ornitologo tedesco. Il sostantivo Graf nel nome dello studioso non è un nome proprio, bensì un titolo equivalente all'italiano conte. Studiò alle Università di Lipsia e Gottinga, dopodiché intraprese un viaggio a scopo scientifico attraverso l'Europa (Ungheria, Austria e Italia nel biennio 1795–1796 e poi Portogallo fra il 1797 e il 1801), durante il quale acquisì vaste conoscenze e si procurò numerosissimi campioni animali e vegetali, che mandò a Brunswick, in modo tale che Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger potesse studiarli e catalogarli. Fra il 1804 e il 1816, Hoffmannsegg lavorò a Berlino, dove nel 1815 venne eletto membro onorario della locale accademia scientifica. Fu inoltre il fondatore del Museum für Naturkunde, nel 1809: propose Illiger per il ruolo di curatore del neonato museo, sicché egli potesse portare a Berlino tutte le collezioni inviategli dallo studioso durante il suo tour europeo. In suo onore è stato nominato un genere di piante delle Fabacee (Hoffmannseggia). In botanica, si è soliti abbreviare il suo nome in Hoffmanns.

Holmskiold

Johan Theodor Holmskiold (14 June 1731 – 15 September 1793) was a Danish botanist, courtier and administrator. Johan Theodor was born 14 June 1731 in Nyborg on the Danish island of Funen as the oldest of eight children to Nicolai Holm and Cathrine Lucie née v. Lengerchen. He first trained with his farther who was a surgeon before studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen, graduating in 1760. During the last three years of his studies, from 1757 to 1769, he toured Europe with professor Friis Rottbøll who paid for his travels. They visited a number of universities in Germany, the Netherlands and France and formed many close bonds with prominent colleagues. In Leiden and Paris Holm collected specimens for a herbarium which was later presented to the King as a gift. In 1762 he became a professor in medicine and natural history at Sorø Academy. There he founded a botanical garden before leaving the academy with a pension in 1765. At that point he also abandoned his medical career for good, instead turning to various administrative pursuits and his interest in botany. In 1767, Holm was appointed director general of the Danish Postal Services in Copenhagen, a position which he held until his death in 1793. From 1772, he also served as cabinet secretary for Dowager Queen Juliana Maria, stepmother of King Christian VII. She held him in high esteem. Due to his good relations with the royal family, particularly the Queen, he was, in the early 1770s, contacted by Frantz Heinrich Müller, a pharmacist and mineralogist who was setting up a porcelain factory. This led to the foundation of the Royal Danish Porcelain Factory in 1775, with the King as a co–owner, Juliana Maria as a protector and Holmskiold as its first director–in–chief. In 1779, he took full control of the company and remained head of the factory for the rest of his life. In 1778, he was appointed as one of two directors for a new botanical garden at Charlottenborg. It was created as a joint venture between the University and the King, each of whom was to appoint a director. The first university appointment was Christen Friis Rottbøll, Holmskiold's old teacher and travel companion from his student years, while the King chose Holmskiold. Holmskiold advanced rapidly through the ranks and was ennobled under the name of Holmskiold in 1781. On the same occasion, he was made a Knight of the Order of the Danneborg and in 1884 was given the title of Gehejmeråd. As a botanist, Holmskiold is remembered for Beata ruris otia fungis Danicis Impensa ("Happy Resting Periods in the Country Studying Danish Fungi"), a celebrated two–volume work on fungi. The first volume was not published until 1790, and the second posthumously in 1796, but the work relies on the studies he conducted during the two short years he spent in Aarhus after leaving Sorø Academy and prior to his employment with the Danish Postal Services. In Aarhus, Holmskiold had observed and documented the fungi he found and he also commissioned artist Johan Neander to make detailed full–scale drawings of the specimens he collected and described. Holmskjold's initial engagement with the postal services was most likely a fairly easy task which left him with sufficient time to work on his study of fungi. A first draft, at least of the first volume, was completed as early as 1770. It focussed on Agaricaceae, Clavariaceae and Discomycetes, but Holmskiold was dissatisfied with the book and chose not to publish it at this stage, probably because he got distracted by other pursuits. Among its 74 described specimens, Beata contains 57 newly–named fungi, five new combinations and 52 totally new taxa. The work received particular appreciation for its renderings, prompting the Swedish botanist Anders Jahan Retzius (1742–1821) to call it "the most brilliant work which had appeared up to that time". He went on to name a genus of flowering shrubs Holmskioldia in Holmskjold's honour. The Harvard University Herbaria describes the illustrations as "stunningly rendered, impeccably accurate, and beautiful illustrations. In 1776, Holdskjold became a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters and published several articles in its various journals, including one on catfish which relied on his observations in Lake Sorø during his years at Sorø Academy. In 1768, shortly after his appointment as general director of the Postal Services, Holmskiold built a country house on the shore of Lake Bagsværd in Frederiksdal north of Copenhagen. He named it Sophienholm after his fiancée Sophia Magdalena de Schrødersee (1746–1801). They married on 21 December 1770. Holmskjold also acquired five farms in the area. In 1782, the year after his ennoblement, he commissioned the architect J.B. Guione to build him a new and larger country house on a tract of land at the southern tip of Lake Bagsværd. The building, which became known as Aldershvile, was not completed until 1790. It was a white building with a hipped roof clad in blue–glazed tiles and was surrounded by a 12–hectare English–style landscaped garden with a canal system. Johan Theodor Holmskiold died on 15 September 1793, not long after the completion of his new home. P.F. Suhm wrote an epitaph in Latin about him. It turned out that he was heavily indebted and that he was guilty of embezzlement against both the Queen, the Postal Services and the Royal Porcelain Factory. The Aldershvile estate was subsequently sold to Adolph Ribbing, a Swedish count who had been exiled for his involvement in the murder of King Gustav III of Sweden.

Hoppe

David Heinrich Hoppe (Bruchhausen–Vilsen, 15 dicembre 1760 – Ratisbona, 1º agosto 1846) è stato un micologo, botanico e naturalista tedesco. Incominciò come apprendista–farmacista a Celle, e successivamente, nell'ordine, ad Amburgo, Halle, Wolfenbüttel e Ratisbona. Studiò anche medicina e scienze naturali all'Università di Erlangen. Una volta laureato, tornò a Ratisbona, per insegnare fisica nel locale liceo. Nel 1790, fondò la Società Botanica di Ratisbona, prima organizzazione del genere in Baviera, e oggi la più antica società botanica in attività, di cui fu direttore continuativamente dal 1812 alla data della sua morte. È ricordato, soprattutto, per i suoi importanti contributi allo studio della flora alpina. Particolare rilievo ebbero le sue lunghe esplorazioni botaniche, compiute tra il 1796 e il 1846, che interessarono i territori di Salisburgo e di Heiligenblut, ma anche varie zone costiere dell'Adriatico e montane del Tirolo, della Venezia Giulia e dell'Istria. Fu più volte a Trieste, per organizzare viaggi scientifici con l'ausilio e in compagnia di Bartolomeo Biasoletto, del quale ospitò numerosi articoli sul periodico «Flora», dallo stesso Hoppe edito fra il 1818 e il 1842. Nel corso della sua attività, descrisse e denominò oltre 200 diverse specie di piante. Il genere Hoppea, appartenente alla famiglia delle Gentianaceae, è a lui intitolata.

Hornstedt

Claës Fredric Hornstedt est un naturaliste suédois, né le 12 février 1758 à Linköping et mort le mai 1809 à Helsingfors, Finlande. Il fait ses études à université d'Uppsala, notamment auprès de Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828). Il voyage dans le nord de l’Europe, puis, à l’instigation de Thunberg en 1783–1784 à Java en passant par Le Cap. Il revient en Europe en 1785 avec de riches collections d’histoire naturelle et en ethnologie. Il séjourne aux Pays–Bas, en France et au Danemark. Il obtient un titre de docteur en médecine à Greifswald en Allemagne en 1786. De retour en Suède l’année suivante, il devient conservateur à l’Académie royale des sciences de Suède, en remplacement d’Anders Sparrman (1748–1820) parti pour une expédition dans l’Afrique de l’ouest. Hornstedt réalise alors l’un des plus anciens catalogues des collections de cette institution. Mais l’expédition de Sparrman tourne court et Hornstedt part enseigner l’histoire naturelle à Linköping. En 1796, il entre dans la marine suédoise et est fait prisonnier par les Russes durant la guerre opposant à la Suède à la Russie. Il devient alors médecin chef de l’hôpital russe de fort Sveaborg. Anders Jahan Retzius (1742–1821) lui dédie le genre Hornstedtia.

Horsfield

Thomas Horsfield (Filadelfia, 1773 – Londra, 14 luglio 1859) è stato un naturalista statunitense. Horsfield nacque a Filadelfia e studiò medicina. Lavorò come dottore a Giava per molti anni. La Compagnia Inglese delle Indie Orientali prese il controllo dell'isola, appartenuta prima agli olandesi, nel 1811 e Horsfield iniziò a collezionare piante e animali per conto dell'amico Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. Nel 1819 fu costretto a lasciare l'isola per problemi di salute e divenne custode e, successivamente, curatore del museo della Compagnia delle Indie Orientali di Leadenhall Street, a Londra. Horsfield venne nominato segretario assistente della Zoological Society di Londra alla sua fondazione, nel 1826. Horsfield scrisse Zoological Researches in Java and the Neighbouring Islands (1824). Classificò anche un certo numero di uccelli insieme a Nicholas Aylward Vigors, specialmente nel loro A description of the Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities (1827). Nel 1833 fu il fondatore di quella che sarebbe diventata la Royal Entomological Society di Londra. Il suo nome viene ricordato in alcune specie, tra cui la testuggine di Horsfield o testuggine russa (Testudo horsfieldii) e l'astore di Horsfield o sparviere cinese (Accipiter soloensis).

Horta

Garcia de Orta (ou da Horta ou Horto ou Orto ou del Huerte ou encore Garcie du Jardin), né en 1501 à Castelo de Vide1 au Portugal et mort en 1568 à Goa, est un médecin et un botaniste portugais. Issu d'une famille de juifs espagnols expulsés d'Espagne puis convertis au christianisme, Da Horta étudie dans les universités de Salamanque et d'Alcalá de Henares. Vers 1523, il est diplômé d'Art, de philosophie naturelle et de médecine. Il exerce quelque temps dans sa ville natale avant de s'installer en 1526 à Lisbonne où il devient le médecin de Jean III. Il y fait connaissance du mathématicien Pedro Nunes. En 1530, il devient professeur de philosophie naturelle à l'université de Lisbonne. En 1534, il s'embarque pour les Indes comme médecin du général en chef puis gouverneur Martim Afonso de Sousa. On suppose qu'il fuit le Portugal pour échapper à l'Inquisition. Il s'installe à Goa où il exerce la médecine et fait commerce de produits médicaux locaux ainsi que de pierres précieuses. Il se lie d'amitiés avec le grand poète Luis de Camoes. Le vice–roi des Indes lui octroie des privilèges à Bombay appartenant à la couronne portugaise en ce temps–là. Il soigne de nombreuses personnalités comme le sultan d'Ahmadnagar. Il rentre en contact avec les marchands fréquentant le Golfe Persique et la côte indienne jusqu'à Ceylan. En 1541, il épouse une riche héritière avec qui il eût plusieurs filles. Il décède en 1568 en ayant sans douté évité les poursuites de l'Inquisition qui installe un tribunal à Goa en 1565. Mais sitôt après sa mort, sa famille est persécutée. En 1569, sa sœur, suspectée de continuer à pratiquer la religion juive, est brûlée. D'autres membres de sa famille, sous la torture, dénoncent Garcia da Horta. En 1580, son cadavre est exhumé puis brûlé et ses cendres sont dispersées en mer. Son livre Colóquios dos Simples e Drogas e Cousas Medicinais da Índia, publié en portugais en 1563, connaît un grand retentissement en Europe car il constitue le premier traité de médecine tropicale. Da Horta y décrit pour la première fois le choléra et d'autres maladies exotiques, il décrit des méthodes thérapeutiques inconnues jusqu'alors et donne la description minutieuse de nombreuses plantes. Il montre aussi l'étendue de ses connaissances dans la médecine arabe et de l'œuvre d'Avicenne. En outre, le "Colloque des simples" comprend la première poésie publiée par Luis de Camoes. Cet ouvrage a été traduit en latin par le botaniste Charles de L'Écluse en 1572, en italien par Annibale Briganti en 1575 et en espagnol par Cristovão da Costa en 1578 et en français par Antoine Collin en 1602. De larges extraits de son livre sont présentés par certains auteurs tels que Jan Huygen van Linschoten ou Linscot comme leurs propres œuvres. Il fonde un jardin botanique sur l'île de Bombay et y expérimente la culture de plantes venant d'Europe ou d'Inde, mais aussi de Chine et d'Iran. En 1978 il fut représenté sur les billets de banque portugais de 20 escudos (environ 10 cts d'euros).

Host

Nicolaus Thomas Host (December 6, 1761 in Fiume, now Rijeka – January 13, 1834 in Schönbrunn) was an Austrian botanist, and the personal physician of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. His botanical works include Synopsis plantarum in Austria and the four–volume Austriacorum Icones et descriptions graminum; he was also the first director of the botanical garden at the Belvedere palace. The genus Hosta is named for him. The standard author abbreviation Host is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Hotton

Petrus Houttuyn (18 June 1648, Amsterdam – 10 January 1709, Leiden), often cited as Peter Hotton, was a Dutch botanist and medical professor of medicine and botany at Leiden University. As professor of botany, he was ex officio supervisor of the university’s botanic garden and was given an official residence and an allowance for foreign correspondence and the exchange of seeds and plants. He was succeeded by Herman Boerhaave.

Houstoun

William Houstoun (occasionally spelt Houston) (1695?–1733) was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who collected plants in the West Indies, Mexico and South America. Houstoun was born in Houston, Renfrewshire. He began a degree course in medicine at St Andrew's University but interrupted his studies to visit the West Indies, returning circa 1727. On 6 October 1727, he entered the University of Leyden to continue his studies under Boerhaave, graduating M.D. in 1729. It was during his time at Leyden that Houstoun became interested in the medicinal properties of plants. After returning to England that year, he soon sailed for the Caribbean and the Americas employed as a ship's surgeon for the South Sea Company. He collected plants in Jamaica, Cuba, Venezuela, and Vera Cruz, despatching seeds and plants to Philip Miller head gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London. Notable among these plants was Dorstenia contrayerva, a reputed cure for snake–bite, and Buddleja americana, the latter named by Linnaeus, at Houstoun's request, for the English cleric and botanist Adam Buddle, although Buddle could have known nothing of the plant as he had died in 1715. Houstoun published accounts of his studies in Catalogus plantarum horti regii Parisiensis. When Houstoun returned to London in 1731, he was introduced to Sir Hans Sloane by Miller. Sloane commissioned him to undertake a three–year expedition, financed by the trustees for the Province of Georgia 'for improving botany and agriculture in Georgia', and to help stock the Trustee's Garden planned for Savannah. Houstoun initially sailed to the Madeira Islands to gather grape plantings before continuing his voyage across the Atlantic. However he never completed his mission as he 'died from the heat' on 14 August 1733 soon after arriving in Jamaica; he was buried at Kingston. Houstoun was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in January, 1733. Houstoun's writings and plant specimens, now preserved in the botanical department of the British Museum, passed from Miller to Sir Joseph Banks, by whom the manuscripts were published as Reliquiae Houstounianae in 1781. The genus Cinchonaceae Houstonia was named for him by Gronovius, and adopted by Linnaeus, but is now merged in Hedyotis. The standard author abbreviation Houst. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Houttuyn

Maarten Houttuyn or Houttuijn (1720, Hoorn – 2 May 1798, Amsterdam), Latinised as Martinus Houttuyn, was a Dutch naturalist. Houttuyn was born in Hoorn, studied medicine in Leiden and moved to Amsterdam in 1753. He published many books on natural history. His areas of interest encompassed Pteridophytes, Bryophytes and Spermatophytes. In botanical nomenclature, the standard author abbreviation Houtt. is applied to plants described by him. He is commemorated by the monotypic genus Houttuynia, a member of the Saururaceae from China and Japan. The standard author abbreviation Houtt. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Huerta

Jerónimo Gómez de la Huerta (Escalona, provincia de Toledo, 1573 – Madrid, 1643) fue un médico, poeta, traductor y humanista español. Estudió en las Universidades de Alcalá de Henares Humanidades y Filosofía y en la de Valladolid Medicina. Durante varios años ejerció en Madrid, en Valdemoro y en Arganda la profesión de médico. De una señora rica y noble con la que casó tuvo un hijo, y al morir ésta tomó el hábito carmelita y abandonó la Corte, estableciéndose primero en Valdemoro y luego en Arganda. Habiendo llegado a manos de Felipe II su traducción de los primeros libros de la Historia natural de Cayo Plinio Segundo, más conocido como Plinio el Viejo, primera que se hacía al español, el monarca le pidió que la continuara asignándole una cantidad remunerativa mientras durara su trabajo. En 1624 Felipe IV lo nombró familiar del Santo Oficio y médico de cámara, cargo que mantuvo hasta su muerte en 1643; está enterrado en el convento carmelita madrileño de San Hermenegildo, donde era religioso su hijo con el nombre de fray Jerónimo de la Concepción. Lope de Vega lo elogia en su El laurel de Apolo, llamándole «docto médico Febo». Gómez de la Huerta fue amigo también del poeta Luis Barahona de Soto y escribió Florando de Castilla, lauro de caballeros, (Alcalá de Henares: Juan Gracián, 1588) en trece cantos, obra muy juvenil y heterogénea que incluye una novela bizantina y un libro de caballerías; sigue bastante el influjo de Ludovico Ariosto y en un pasaje se trata la famosa historia de Los amantes de Teruel; se le debe también Problemas filosóficos (Madrid, 1628), compuestos en variedad de metros y su resolución en prosa; De la precedencia que se debe a los reyes de España en presencia del Pontífice Romano; De inmaculata conceptione B. Virginis Mariae panegiricum (Madrid, 1630); y la citada traducción Historia natural de Cayo Plinio Segundo (Madrid, libros VII y VIII en 1599, reimpresos en Alcalá en 1602; en Madrid y 1603 el IX; 1624 el primer tomo y en 1629 el segundo y último), muy ampliada y corregida con caudalosas y curiosas notas.

Humboldt

Alexander Friedrich Heinrich von Humboldt: naturalista e viaggiatore tedesco  (Berlino 1769–1859). Laureatosi nel 1790 all'Università di Gottinga, compì in quello stesso anno un viaggio attraverso diversi Paesi dell'Europa occidentale lungo i principali corsi d'acqua. Nel 1791 si iscrisse alla Scuola mineraria di Freiberg, allievo di A. G. Werner, e divenne ingegnere e poi direttore generale delle miniere di Franconia. A quel periodo risale la pubblicazione dei suoi primi lavori scientifici. Entrato in possesso di una grossa eredità, lasciò l'incarico e con il botanico Aimé Bonpland intraprese nel 1799 un viaggio nelle colonie spagnole americane. Dapprima fu in Venezuela, dove navigò lungo l'Orinoco e il Río Negro, mettendo in evidenza la comunicazione tra il bacino dell'Orinoco e quello del Rio delle Amazzoni, e raccolse un enorme numero di dati e di campioni relativi alla flora e alla fauna tropicali, alla geologia, alla climatologia e al magnetismo terrestre. Visitò successivamente Cuba, Colombia ed Ecuador e compì l'ascensione del Chimborazo senza però riuscire a raggiungere la vetta. Esplorò i rami sorgivi del Rio delle Amazzoni e, seguendo il tracciato delle antiche strade inca, visitò il Perú, dove studiò la corrente marina che ne lambisce le coste. Nel 1803 si spostò nel Messico. Tornato in Europa, si stabilì a Parigi (1808) curando, con la collaborazione di molti studiosi, l'elaborazione dei dati raccolti, che pubblicò nell'opera in 30 volumi (1807–33) Voyage aux régions équinoctiales du Nouveau Continent, fait en 1799–1804 (avec A. Bonpland). Nel 1827, dopo aver condotto alcune missioni diplomatiche per conto di Federico III di Prussia, si stabilì per due anni a Berlino. Nel 1829, su invito dello zar Nicola I, compì un viaggio scientifico attraverso la Russia, dalla Neva allo Jenisej, interessandosi soprattutto di meteorologia e di geomagnetismo. Dedicò il resto della sua vita alla stesura di un'opera monumentale mirante a una descrizione fisica globale della Terra e dell'Universo, intitolata Kosmos, i cui primi quattro volumi uscirono tra il 1845 e il 1858 e il quinto postumo nel 1862. Lasciò inoltre molti scritti su argomenti quanto mai vari. Considerato il fondatore della moderna geografia fisica, Humboldt ebbe il merito di studiare i fenomeni naturali mettendone in evidenza le reciproche connessioni, secondo una concezione unitaria e armonica del mondo fisico. Tra i suoi più significativi contributi vanno ricordati: l'introduzione delle isoterme per lo studio comparato dei climi, la scoperta delle variazioni d'intensità del campo magnetico terrestre con la latitudine; lo studio della diminuzione della temperatura con l'altezza; l'impulso dato alla fitogeografia attraverso la descrizione della flora dell'America Meridionale e Centrale e del Messico.

Hüttner

Johann Christian Hüttner (1765/1766–1847), miscellaneous writer, was born about 1765 at Guben in Lusatia, Germany. He graduated at Leipzig in 1791, and came to England as tutor to a son of Sir George Staunton. He went with his pupil to China in Lord Macartney's embassy, and was occasionally employed to write official letters in Latin. He sent accounts of his experiences to friends in Germany, who promised not to publish them. A copy of them was, however, sold to a Leipzig bookseller, and his friends in Germany thought it best to bring out an authentic text, which appeared at Berlin in 1797, under the title of Nachricht von der brittischen Gesandtschaftsreisedurch China und einen Theil der Tartarei. The work, which anticipated the official account, excited considerable attention. Two French translations of it were published in 1799 and 1804. Dr. Burney, 'who was much interested by some curious information he had collected on the subject of Chinese music,' obtained for Hüttner in 1807, through his influence with Canning, the appointment of translator to the foreign office. As such he translated from Spanish into German the appeal to the nations of Europe on Napoleon's invasion of the Peninsula. He kept up close relations with Germany, and for a long period acted as literary agent to the Grand Duke of Saxe–Weimar. Hüttner was twice married, but left no issue. His death, which was due to a street accident, took place on 24 May 1847, at Fludyer Street, Westminster. His other works were, 'De Mythis Platonis,' Leipzig, 1788; 'Hindu Gesetzbuch oder Menu's Verordnungen' (an edited translation of Sir William Jones's English translation from the Sanskrit), Weimar, 1797; 'Englische Miscellen herausgegeben (Bd. 5–25) von J. C. Hüttner,' Tübingen, 1800, &c.; an edition, with German notes, of James Townley's farce of 'High Life below Stairs,' Tübingen, 1802, and some minor contributions to German encyclopædias and periodicals.