Friedrich Welwitsch

Friedrich Martin Josef Welwitsch (25 February 1806 – 20 October 1872; also Welwich or Velbitsch, was an Austrian explorer and botanist who discovered the plant Welwitschia.

Biography

Friedrich "Fritz" Welwitsch [a.e.i.o.u. encyclopedia: "Welwitsch"] was born at Maria Saal, Duchy of Carinthia, Austrian Empire, to the local judicial officer and administrator in 1806. The family name, which in to-day's Slovene spelling would be "Velbič", points at Slovenian ethnicity. Contrary to the wishes of his father, who wanted him to study law, [Hermann Th. Schneider, Streets and Squares in Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, no year, p.253] he studied medicine and botany in Vienna and worked as a physician in the Austrian provinces of Carniola and Moravia, but his interest in the plant kingdom, where he discovered a number of plants hitherto unknown, was so great that in 1839 he abandoned the medical profession altogether.

With the financial aid of a Württemberg botanical association Welwitsch travelled to Portugal where he became the director of the botanical gardens. His claim to fame came when with the support of the Portuguese botanical society Unio Itineraria [ibid.] he did research on the Canary Islands, on Madeira, and, in the interest of the Portuguese government, from 1853 in Angola, then a Portuguese colony. There, in 1859, in the Namib Desert in the southern part of Angola he discovered the most curious plant on earth, a unique member of the "gnetaceae" or "tumboa" [Brockhaus Encyclopedia vol. 20, Leipzig 1935, p.219] family with a subterranean stem of 50 cm diameter [ Schneider, p.253 ] that can grow up to 30 meters deep, and with only two leaves of up to 2 m long, the longest-lived leaves (1,500 to 2,000 years) in the plant kingdom. [ [http://namibweb.com/welwitschia.htm Namibweb] ] This was the famous "Welwitschia mirabilis" (also "welwitschia bainesii" [ [http://aeiou.iicm.tugraz.at/aeiou.encyclop.w/w443313.htm a.e.i.o.u. encyclopedia] ] , "velbitschia" or, in Slovene, "velbičica" ) named after him. This unique plant, whose common name is "Tree tumbo", [ [http://florawww.eeb.uconn.edu/acc_num/199700061.html University of Connecticut] ] a single species of dioecious perennial, is considered a "gymnosperm", however, the relationship with other species in this class is still not clear.

After eight strenuous years of exploring and collecting Welwitsch returned to Portugal in 1861, but because of better working conditions went to London in 1863 where he worked in the Natural History Museum and at Kew Gardens categorizing and catalogueing his enormous collection. Alone in his publication "Sertum Angolense" he described 12 new categories and 48 new species. Upon his death in 1872 he left his precious collection to the Natural History Museum in London. However, having financed his Angolan years the Portuguese government claimed the estate. Only after a three-year suit the case was settled: One series of his collection went to Lisbon, the second series remained in London. Welwitsch was buried in the Kensal Green Cemetery where the slab over his grave reads: "Frederikus Welwitsch, M.D. - Florae angolensis investigatorum princeps - Nat. in Carinthia 5 Feb 1806 - Ob. Londini 20 Oct 1872". In his honour an area in Southwest-Africa, now Namibia, bears his name: Welwitschia Plains. [ [http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1747/Unesco. World Heritage] ]

Publications

*"Beiträge zur kryptogamischen Flora Unterösterreichs." In: "Beiträge zur Landeskunde Österreichs", vol.4, 1834.
*"Synopsis Nostochinearum Austriae inferioris". PhD Thesis, Vienna, 1836.
*"Genera Phycearum Lusitanae". (="Actas da Academia das Ciências de Lisboa"), Lisbon 1850.
*"Apontamentos Fito-geograficos sobre a Flora da Província de Angola na Africa Equinocial". In: "Anais do Conselho do Ultramarino de oct. 1858", Lisbon 1858.
*"Sinopse explicativa das amostras de Madeiras e drogas medicinais (...) coligidos na provincia de Angola, e enviados a Exposição Internacional de Londres 1862". Lisbon, 1862.
*"Sertum Angolense". In: "Transactions of the Linnean Society"vol. XXII, London 1869.
*"Notizen über die Bryologie von Portugal". In: Flora, 1872.

Bibliography

*Helmut Dolezal, "Friedrich Welwitsch". PhD Thesis, Vienna 1953.
*Helmut Dolezal, "Friedrich Welwitsch. Leben und Werk". In: "Portugaliae Acta Biologica (B)," Vol VI (1959) 257-323 and Vol VII (1960-61) 49/324-276/551.
*W. P. Hiern, et al., "Catalogue of the African Plants Collected by Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch in 1853-61". 2 vols. By Order of the Trustees, British Museum (Natural History) London 1896-1901.
*Marianne Klemun, "Friedrich Welwitsch (1806-1872). (Pflanzengeograph in Kärnten, Begründer des Herbars in Portugal und Erschließer der Flora Angolas)." In: Carinthia II, 180/100 (1990), pp. 11-30.
*Gustav Adolf Zwanziger, "Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch. Seine Reisen in Angola und sein Leben". In: "Carinthia (Zeitschrift für Vaterlandskunde, Belehrung und Unterhaltung.)" No. 9/10 (1882), pp. 219 – 248

Notes and references

Reflist

External links

* [http://aeiou.iicm.tugraz.at/aeiou.encyclop.w/w443313.htm a.e.i.o.u.encyclopedia]
* [http://www.namibweb.com/welwitschia.htm "Welwitschia mirabilis" NamibWeb.com]
* [http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1747/ Unesco:Welwitschia Plains, Namibia]
* [http://florawww.eeb.uconn.edu/acc_num/199700061.html "Welwitschia mirabilis" University of Connecticut]
* [http://www.mygreatnamibia.com/Photo~973 My Great Namibia: Welwitschia Photo]
* [http://www.kew.org/ Kew Gardens]
* [http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/plants/glossary/indexw.shtmltp Enchanted Learning]