Etimologia botanica
di Alexandre de Théis
1810

Biografie botaniche

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Wachendorff

Evert Jacob van Wachendorff (auch: Everard Jacob, Everhardus Jacobus, Eberhard Jakob van Wachendorf; * 2. November 1703 in Utrecht; † 22. Dezember 1758 ebenda) war ein niederländischer Mediziner, Botaniker und Chemiker. Evert Jacob war der Sohn des Arztes Alexander Carel Philip van Wachendorff (* 12. Juli 1665 in Cleve; † 27. Januar 1757 in Utrecht) und dessen Frau Gerharda van Sypesteyn (* 19. April 1672 in Utrecht; † 14. November 1742 ebd.), Tochter des Everard van Sypesteyn und der Catharina van den Woerd. Er nahm 1723 ein Studium der Medizin an der Universität Utrecht auf und promovierte unter Josephus Serrurier am 21. September 1724 mit der Abhandlung De natura solidorum et fluidorum, eorumque mutua actione in variis aetatibus zum Doktor der Medizin. Danach betätigte er sich als praktischer Arzt und Privatdozent in Utrecht. Am 22. Juli 1743 beriefen ihn die Kuratoren der Utrechter Hochschule zum Professor der Medizin, Botanik und Chemie, welches Amt er am 26. September 1743 mit der Rede botanico–medica de plantis, inmensitatis intellectus divini testibus locupletissimis antrat. In dieser Eigenschaft beteiligte er sich auch an den organisatorischen Aufgaben der Hochschule und war 1747/48 Rektor der Alma Mater, zu welcher Gelegenheit er die Rede Ex principiis corpus humanum constituentibus medicum chemiae peritum huius ignaro esse praestantiorem hielt. Verdienste hatte er sich erworben, als er den Hortus Botanicus Ultraiectini Academicum in Utrecht neu ordnete und 1747 einen Index aller dortigen Pflanzen herausgab. Zudem hatte er die Anatomie des Auges untersucht und 1740 die erste Beschreibung der Membrana pupillaris veröffentlicht. Da er bereits jung verstarb, konnte er keine weitere herausragende Leistung vollbringen. Wachendorff war drei Mal verheiratet. Seine erste Ehe schloss er am 6. September 1734 in Utrecht mit Louise van Wachendorff (* 6. Januar 1706 in Utrecht; † 17. Juli 1735 ebd.), die Tochter des Cornelis Anthonie van Wachendorff (1667–1730) und dessen Frau Aletta van Sypesteyn (1669–1752). Seine zweite Ehe am 20. Juni 1736 in Den Haag mit Johanna Margaretha Snevens (~ 9. Juni 1698 in Den Haag; † 1748) die Tochter des Johan Reinhout Snevens und dessen Frau Perpetua Rijklofsdr van Goens. Seine dritte Ehe ging er am 16. September 1749 in Utrecht mit Maria Amelia Hoffmann († 1770) ein. Alle Ehen verliefen unglücklich und er blieb kinderlos.

Waldstein

Franz de Paula Adam Norbert Wenzel Ludwig Valentin von Waldstein (14 February 1759 – 24 May 1823) was an Austrian soldier, explorer and naturalist. He was born in Vienna and married Karolina Ferdinandi (1777–1844). As a soldier he took part in campaigns against the Ottoman Empire and Russia. He died in Litvínov (German: Oberleutensdorf), Bohemia. From 1789 he studied the botany of Hungary with Pál Kitaibel. His herbarium is archived in Prague. Together with Kitaibel he wrote Descriptiones et icones plantarum rariorum Hungariae ("descriptions and pictures of the rare plants of Hungary"; M. A. Schmidt, Vienna, three volumes, 1802–1812). The genus Waldsteinia (Rosaceae) was named after him by Carl Ludwig von Willdenow. The standard author abbreviation Waldst. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Walker

Richard Walker (1679–1764) was a professor of moral philosophy at the University of Cambridge, noted as a supporter of Richard Bentley in his long legal battle with the fellowship of Trinity College. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1706, M.A. in 1710, B.D. in 1724, and D.D. per regias literas in 1728. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity, but in 1708 left Cambridge to serve a curacy at Upwell in Norfolk. In 1717 Richard Bentley, who had a difference with the junior bursar, John Myers, removed him, and recalled Walker to Cambridge to fill his place. From this time a friendship began between Walker and Bentley, and Walker helped Bentley in his struggle within the college. On 27 April 1734 Bentley was sentenced by the college Visitor, Thomas Green, bishop of Ely, to be deprived of the mastership of Trinity College. On the resignation of John Hacket, the vice–master, on 17 May 1734, Walker was appointed to his place, and refused to carry out the bishop's sentence. On 25 June 1735, at the instance of John Colbatch, a senior fellow, the court of king's bench granted a mandamus addressed to Walker, requiring him to execute the sentence or to show cause for not doing so. Walker, in reply, questioned the title of the bishop to the office of general visitor, and the affair dragged on until 1736, when Green's death put an end to the attempts of Bentley's opponents. Walker was the companion of Bentley's old age, and was introduced by Alexander Pope into the Dunciad' with his patron. In 1744 Walker was appointed professor of moral philosophy at Cambridge, and in 1745 he was nominated rector of Thorpland in Norfolk, a living which he exchanged in 1757 for that of Upwell. He was devoted to horticulture, and had a small garden within the precincts of Trinity College which was famous for exotic plants, including the pineapple, banana, coffee shrub, logwood tree, and torch thistle, which, with the aid of a hothouse, he was able to raise. On 16 July 1760 he purchased land from Richard Whish, a vintner, and on 25 Aug. 1762 conveyed the principal part to the university in trust for the establishment of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden which occupied the site until its move one mile south in 1846. In 1763 he published anonymously A Short Account of the late Donation of a Botanic Garden to the University of Cambridge. He died at Cambridge, unmarried, on 15 December 1764.

Walter

Thomas Walter est un botaniste et un planteur américain d’origine britannique, né vers 1740 à Hampshire (Grande–Bretagne) et mort le 17 janvier 1789 dans le Comté de Berkeley (Caroline du Sud). Il émigre jeune en Caroline du Sud et acquiert une plantation sur les rives du fleuve Santee. C’est là qu’il passera le reste de sa vie. On ignore les détails de sa formation, mais il est probable qu’il ait reçu une bonne éducation. Il étudie intensivement les végétaux dans un rayon de 80 km autour de chez lui. Il fait parvenir à son ami le botaniste John Fraser (1750–1811) un manuscrit en latin décrivant plus de 1.000 espèces (dont plus de 200 nouvelles) et 435 genres (dont 32 nouveaux). Fraser le fait alors paraître sous le titre de Flora Caroliniana. C’est la première flore locale de l’Amérique du Nord utilisant la nomenclature binomiale linnéenne. Fraser reçoit également l’herbier de Walter. Celui–ci est acquis par la Société linnéenne de Londres en 1849 puis par le British Museum en 1863 dans un état de détérioration avancée. § Thomas Walter (c. 1740 – January 17, 1789) was a British–born American botanist. He is best known for his book Flora Caroliniana (1788), an early yet fairly complete catalogue of the flowering plants of South Carolina. The standard author abbreviation Walter is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Walther

Augustin Friedrich Walther (October 26, 1688 – October 12, 1746) was a German anatomist, botanist and physician who was a native of Wittenberg. He was the son of theologian Michael Walther the Younger (1638–1692). In 1712 he earned his degree of philosophy from the University of Wittenberg, and in the following year received his medical doctorate from the University of Leipzig. At Leipzig he became a professor of anatomy (1728), pathology (1732) and therapy (1737). In 1730 he became director of the Leipzig Botanical Gardens, and in 1737 was rector at the university. Among his numerous writings was a 1735 botanical treatise called Designatio plantarum quas hortus AF Waltheri complectitur, in which he provides descriptions of thousands of plant species from his private botanical garden. As a physician he made contributions in the fields of myology and angiology, and has several medical and anatomical terms named after him, including: Walther's dilator: An instrument used for dilation of the female urethra. – Walther's ducts: Also known as minor sublingual ducts. – Walther's ganglion: Also known as the coccygeal ganglion. – Walther's plexus: also known as the intracavernous plexus; which is the portion of the internal carotid plexus in the cavernous sinus. The plant genus Waltheria from the family Sterculiaceae is named after him. The standard author abbreviation A. Walther is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Watson

William Watson (Londra, 3 aprile 1715 – Londra, 10 maggio 1787) è stato un fisico e botanico britannico. Come membro della Royal Society di Londra scrisse numerose opere su temi botanici e contribuì a diffondere la classificazione scientifica introdotta da Linneo. Nel 1745 fu insignito della Medaglia Copley per i suoi meriti alla ricerca scientifica e nel 1772 divenne vicepresidente della Royal Society. Watson è oggi ricordato soprattutto per i suoi studi sui fenomeni elettrici, ai quali iniziò a dedicarsi nel 1744. Nel 1746 riuscì ad aumentare la capacità elettrica della bottiglia di Leida, il primo rudimentale tipo di condensatore, rivestendone le pareti interne ed esterne con carta stagnola. A lui si deve la teoria secondo la quale i due tipi di elettricità vetrosa e resinosa distinti da du Fay non fossero che la manifestazione di eccesso o difetto di uno stesso fluido elettrico. Nel 1747 dimostrò che una scarica elettrostatica si propagava nel vuoto meglio ancora che attraverso l'aria. Fu inoltre autore di un celebre esperimento insieme ad altri studiosi nel quale cercò di misurare la velocità dell'elettricità: non riuscendoci giunse alla conclusione che essa fosse troppo veloce per poter essere misurata. ––– The standard author abbreviation Watson is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Weber

Georg Heinrich Weber est un médecin et un botaniste allemand, né le 27 juillet 1752 et mort le 7 juillet 1828 (1752 Göttingen, 1828 Kiel). Il est le fils du professeur de théologie et de philosophie Andreas Weber (1718–1781). Il est le père du botaniste Friedrich Weber (1781–1823) et grand–père du médecin Ferdinand Weber (1812–1860). Il est professeur de médecine en 1777 à l’université de Kiel, puis professeur de médecine et de botanique en 1802. Il dirige également le jardin botanique de l’université. Weber est notamment l’auteur de Spicilegium florae Goettingensis, plantas inprimis cryptogamicas Hercyniae illustrans (Gotha, 1778).

Wedel

Georg Wolfgang Wedel (12 November 1645 – 6 September 1721) was a German professor of surgery, botany, theoretical and practical medicine, and chemistry. Wedel was born in Golßen, Niederlausitz, and received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Jena in 1669. He published research on alchemy and pharmaceutical chemistry. He studied the plating of copper onto iron using a solution of copper sulfate and volatile salts obtained from plants. Wedel also invented new medicines and produced a translated German edition of the Greek Bible. Wedel's sons, Ernst Heinrich Wedel (1 August 1671 – 13 April 1709) and Johann Adolph Wedel (1675–1747) were also physicians.

Weigel

Christian Ehrenfried Weigel (24 May 1748 in Stralsund – 8 August 1831 in Greifswald) was a German scientist and, beginning in 1774, a professor of Chemistry, Pharmacy, Botany, and Mineralogy at the University of Greifswald. In 1771 he received his degree, having studied under Johann Christian Erxleben in Göttingen. In 1806, Weigel was ennobled and carried from then on a "von" in his name. He became the personal physician of the Swedish royal house two years later. Among other things, Weigel developed a cooling heat exchanger (German Gegenstromkühler) (1771), which was later improved upon by Justus von Liebig and then became to be known as the Liebig condenser (Liebigkühler). Furthermore, the Genus Weigela is named after him. In 1792, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The standard author abbreviation Weigel is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Weinmann

Johann Wilhelm Weinmann (13 March 1683 Gardelegen, Germany – 1741), apothecary and botanist, is noted for his creation of the florilegium Phytanthoza iconographia between 1737 and 1745, an ambitious project which resulted in eight folio volumes with more than 1000 hand–coloured engravings of several thousand plants. He was born in Gardelegen son of the barber, Matthias Christian Weinmann. What is known of his early life is that he settled in Regensburg, or Ratisbon as it was known in 1710, and found work as the assistant of an apothecary. Weinmann prospered in Regensburg so that he was able in 1712 to purchase a house and apothecary shop. His wife, Isabella Catharina Fürst, was the daughter of an affluent wine merchant. In 1732, shortly after the death of Isabella, he was married again, on this occasion to Christine Catharina Pfaffenreuther, daughter of a town official. His business acumen was such that he was able to purchase an apothecary which had gone bankrupt, and turn it into a profitable shop. After his first marriage, Weinmann became embroiled in a drawn–out dispute with local apothecaries and physicians, brought about by his appointment in 1713 as Hospital Apothecary. The dispute was only resolved in 1715 with the intervention of the Town Council. Weinmann was reprimanded and his adversaries were instructed not to trouble him. Weinmann soon resumed his successful career, becoming a town councillor in 1722, a commercial assessor in 1725, and a city assessor in 1733. His business interests flourished, allowing him the freedom to indulge in his pursuit of botany. He created a botanical garden in Regensburg, published the Catalogus Alphabetico ordine exhibens Pharmaca in 1723 and contributed botanical notes as "Observationes und Anmerkungen" in the "Breslauer Sammlungen". The standard author abbreviation J.W.Weinm. is applied to species he described.

Wendland

Johann Christoph Wendland (July 17, 1755 – July 27, 1828) was a German botanist and gardener who was a native of Petit–Landau, Alsace. His son Heinrich Ludolph Wendland (1791–1869) and his grandson Hermann Wendland (1825–1903) were also gardeners and botanists. As a young man he received an education in horticulture at the nursery of Karlsruhe Palace. In 1780 he became a gardener at Herrenhausen Gardens in Hanover, where he gained botanical experience from Jakob Friedrich Ehrhart (1742–1795), who was director of the gardens. In 1817 Wendland was appointed inspector at Herrenhausen Gardens. He specialized in the culture of vineyards and peach trees, and also created the illustrations in his published works. The standard author abbreviation J.C.Wendl. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.

Wheler

Sir George Wheler (1650–1723) was an English clergyman and travel writer. The son of Charles Wheler of Charing, Kent, colonel in the Life Guards, by his wife Anne, daughter of John Hutchin of Egerton, Kent, he was born at Breda in Holland, where his Royalist parents were in exile. He was educated at a school in Wye, Kent and Lincoln College, Oxford, matriculating on 31 Jan. 1667. He was created M.A. on 26 March 1683, and D.D. by diploma on 18 May 1702. In 1671 he became a student at the Middle Temple. In October 1673 he set out for a tour in France, Switzerland, and Italy, and was at first accompanied by George Hickes, his tutor at Lincoln College. While in Italy he received some instruction in antiquities from Jean–Foy Vaillant; and at Venice, in June 1675, met Jacob Spon, with whom he travelled in Greece and the Levant in 1675 and 1676. Spon published a separate account of the journey in 1678 Wheler's account, A Journey into Greece, was published in 1682. Among the places visited and described by Wheler were Zante, Delos, Constantinople, Prusa ad Olympum, Thyatira, Ephesus, Delphi, Corinth, and Attica. He gave an account of the antiquities of Athens, and brought home marbles and inscriptions. He made considerable use of coins in his book, and paid attention to botany. He brought home plants that had not been cultivated in Britain, including a Hypericum. The botanists John Ray, Robert Morison, and Leonard Plukenet received rare plants from Wheler. Wheler returned to England in November 1676. In 1677 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (but expelled in 1685) and was knighted on 1 September 1682. About 1683 he took holy orders. In 1684 he received a canonry in Durham Cathedral, and from 1685 to 1702 was vicar of Basingstoke, Hampshire. In 1706 he was promoted to the rectory of Winston, and in 1709 to the rectory of Houghton–le–Spring (where he founded and endowed a school for girls) both in County Durham. He died at Durham, after a short illness, on 15 January 1723, and was buried in the galilee of Durham Cathedral. Works – Wheler published: ‘A Journey into Greece,’ London, 1682, with illustrations; French translation, Amsterdam, 1689. – ‘Account of Churches and Places of Assembly of the Primitive Christians,’ 1689. – ‘The Protestant Monastery; or Christian Œconomicks, containing Directions for the Religious Conduct of a Family’ [London], 1698. Legacy: Wheler bequeathed his Greek and Latin manuscripts to Lincoln College, and his dried plants, arranged in four volumes, to the University of Oxford, to which in 1683 he had presented marbles and antiquities brought from Greece. He left his coins (English, Greek, and Roman) to the Dean and chapter of Durham. By his will he secured a provision for the minister officiating at the chapel in Spital Fields, built in 1693, chiefly at his own expense. This building, formerly known as Wheler Chapel, was modernised in 1842, as St. Mary's, Spital Square. Wheler had considerable property in Spital Fields and Westminster, and estates in Hampshire and Kent. In 1692 he purchased the ancient archiepiscopal palace at Charing, Kent. Family: Wheler married Grace, daughter of Sir Thomas Higgons of Grewel, near Odiham, Hampshire, and had with her a family of eighteen children. Granville Wheler was the third son.

Willdenow

Carl Ludwig Willdenow (Berlino, 22 agosto 1765 – Berlino, 10 luglio 1812) è stato un botanico, farmacista e micologo tedesco. Dopo un apprendistato da farmacista studiò medicina e botanica presso l'università di Halle. Lavorò come farmacista a Berlino. Nel 1789 divenne professore di storia naturale presso il Collegium medico–chirurgicum, nel 1801 membro dell'Accademia delle scienze e professore di botanica presso la neo–fondata università di Berlino. Dal 1811 lavorò a Parigi analizzando le piante trovate da Alexander von Humboldt in Sudamerica. A causa di una malattia tornò a Berlino dove morì. Willdenow era uno dei più famosi biologi sistematici e viene considerato tra i fondatori della dendrologia. Di lui ricordiamo Linnaei species plantarum in 6 volumi.

Willich

Jodocus Willich, (1501– 12 novembre 1552) (eigentlich Wilcke; * 1501 in Rößel; † 12. November 1552 in Halle), médecin et humaniste allemand. Il fut professeur de rhétorique et spécialiste des auteurs classiques grecs. Il est l'auteur d'un important ouvrage de cuisine, publié après sa mort en 1563 par son gendre, le grand naturaliste Conrad Gessner et intitulé "Ars Magirica". On lui doit également un traité sur l'agriculture et les produits de la terre, sous la forme d'un commentaire sur les Géorgiques de Virgile publié en 1539.

Willughby

Francis Willughby (sometimes spelt Willoughby) (22 November 1635 – 3 July 1672) was an English ornithologist and ichthyologist. He was a student, friend and colleague of the naturalist John Ray at Cambridge University, and shared some of his expeditions and interests. Ray saw Willughby's Ornithologia libri tres through the press after Willughby's sudden death.

Withering

William Withering (17 mars 1741 – 6 octobre 1799) est un médecin et un botaniste britannique, célèbre pour sa découverte de la digitaline. Après ses études de médecine à l'université d'Édimbourg, il travaille à l'hôpital général de Birmingham à partir de 1779. On rapporte que Withering constate que l'état de l'un de ses patients, atteint d'hydropisie, s'améliore considérablement après l'administration d'un mélange de plantes. Withering étudie alors ce mélange et isole la substance active contenue dans des feuilles de digitale qu'il nomme digitaline d'après son nom. En 1785, Withering publie la description de ses essais cliniques et l'indication sur la toxicité de la digitaline dans An Account of the Foxglove and some of its Medical Uses. Il vit à Edgbaston Hall (transformé aujourd'hui en club de golf et en réserve naturelle), à Birmingham, et a été l'un des membres de la Lunar Society. Withering est également célèbre pour avoir renoncé au système linnéen car celui–ci, utilisant des métaphores sexuelles pour caractériser les différentes plantes, était considéré comme inconvenant pour les femmes, nombreuses alors à s'intéresser à la botanique. Il a publié une flore britannique qui a eu une grande influence et connut de nombreuses rééditions, certaines posthumes. Enfin, il fait figure de pionnier dans la détermination des champignons. ––– "A botanical arrangement of all the vegetables growing in Great Britain..." (two volumes) 1776, Publ Swinney, London – "A botanical arrangement of British plants..." 1787, 2nd ed. Publ Swinney, London.

Witsen

Nicolaas o Nicolaes Witsen (Amsterdam, 8 maggio 1641 – Amsterdam, 10 agosto 1717) è stato un diplomatico, cartografo e scrittore olandese. È stato per tredici volte sindaco (burgemeester) di Amsterdam tra il 1682 ed il 1706. Inoltre, è stato un rappresentante degli Stati Generali dei Paesi Bassi, nel 1693 amministratore della Compagnia Olandese delle Indie Orientali (VOC) e ambasciatore straordinario presso la corte inglese. Membro della Royal Society, è un'autorità nel campo dell'ingegneria navale (discendente da una famiglia di ingegneri navali) e i suoi libri su questo argomento sono importanti fonti sulla costruzione navale olandese del XVII secolo. Witsen era esperto sulla Russia e Noord en Oost Tartarye è il libro più importante scritto da un olandese riguardo alla Russia (il quale fu in seguito pubblicato in una traduzione inglese). ––– Fondateur du jardin botanique d'Amsterdam, il est considéré comme l'un des plus importants acteurs de l'histoire de la culture du café.

Wulfen

Il barone Franz Xaver von Wulfen (Belgrado, 5 novembre 1728 – Klagenfurt, 16 marzo 1805) è stato un botanico, geologo e alpinista austriaco, scopritore della Wulfenia carinthiaca e della wulfenite. Nato a Belgrado suo padre era un feldmaresciallo dell'esercito austriaco. Dopo aver iniziato gli studi in un ginnasio di Košice (nell'attuale Slovacchia) all'età di soli diciassette anni entrò in un collegio gesuita di Vienna diventando presto egli stesso un insegnante di matematica e fisica. Praticò l'insegnamento in diverse località, tra le quali la stessa Vienna, oltre che Graz, Neusohl, Görz, Laibach ed infine, a partire dal 1764, Klagenfurt, dove rimase fino alla sua morte. Si occupò per circa un ventennio nello studio della flora delle Alpi orientali, addentrandosi soprattutto nella Großglockner ed esplorando le Alpi austriache. Nel 1781 pubblicò i risultati delle sue ricerche nell'opera Plantae rariores Carinthicae (Piante più rare della Carinzia) e tentò nuove ricerche ed esplorazioni verso sud fino al mar Adriatico e a nord fino in Olanda. Nel 1796 divenne membro onorario dell'Accademia Reale Svedese delle Scienze e dopo la sua morte, nel 1838 gli venne eretto un monumento in suo onore. Il genere Wulfenia è stato a lui dedicato dal botanico olandese Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. Tra le piante scoperte da von Wulfen troviamo la Campanula zoysii, scoperta nel 1788 e la Primula glutinosa.