- Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz
Infobox Scientist
name=Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz
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birth_date=November 1 ,1793
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death_date=May 19 ,1831
death_place=
residence=
citizenship=Russian Empire
nationality=
ethnicity=Baltic German
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alma_mater=University of Tartu
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author_abbrev_bot=Eschsch.
author_abbrev_zoo=Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz (
1 November 1793 –19 May 1831 ) was aBaltic German physician ,botanist ,zoologist andentomologist .Eschscholtz was born in Dorpat (Tartu) in the
Russian Empire . He studied medicine at the localUniversity of Dorpat , and spent his main career there as well: extraordinary professor of anatomy (1819), director of the zoological cabinet (1822), and professor of anatomy (1828).From 1815-1818 Eschscholtz was a physician and naturalist on the Russian circumnavigational expeditionary ship "Rurik" under the command of
Otto von Kotzebue . He collected specimens inBrazil ,Chile ,California , thePacific Islands , and on either side of theBering Strait ,Kamchatka , and theAleutian Islands . The other naturalist was the botanistAdelbert von Chamisso , who took over Eschscholtz's specimens, excepting insects on completion of the voyage. The two were close friends and Chamisso named theCalifornia poppy "Eschscholzia californica " in his honour. The results of the trip were published in theBerlin journal "Entomographien" in 1822.From 1823-1826 Eschscholtz went on a second circumnavigational voyage, this time on the ship "Predpriaetie" or "Enterprise". Again Kotzebue was the commander. Large collections, mainly of
Coleoptera , were made in the tropics and atUnalaska ,Sitka , and inCalifornia .Before his early death Eschscholtz visited the French coleopterist
Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean . Eschscholtz described the Coleoptera he had collected using Dejean’s collection to decide which were new. The binomial names he gave them as well the descriptions were published by Dejean after Eschscholtz's death. These were attributed to Eschscholtz by Dejean but the rules of nomenclature were later properly applied and excluded him.Eschscholtz was one of the first and most important scientists in the exploration of the Pacific, Alaska, and California. Among his publications were the "System der Akalephen" (1829), and the "Zoologischer Atlas" (1829 - 1833). Eschscholtz was the first naturalist to describe the
acorn worm (Balanoglossus), which he encountered in theMarshall Islands in 1825.Kotzebue named an island in the Marshall Islands as Eschscholtz Atoll. This was renamed in 1946 to
Bikini Atoll . Kotzebue also named a small bay east of Kotzebue Sound after Eschscholtz.His insect collections are in the Zoological Museum in
Moscow and in the museums of Tartu andHelsinki .ources
*1931 Essig, E. O., "History of Entomology".
*1995 Pont, A. C., "Steenstrupia Copenhagen" 21: 125 - 154 [11808] .
*Wikipedia article on botanists (now merged).Persondata
NAME=Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=naturalist
DATE OF BIRTH=November 1 1793
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=May 19 1831
PLACE OF DEATH=
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