Matthias Jakob Schleiden
Matthias Jacob Schleiden ( born April 5, 1804 in Hamburg, † June 23, 1881 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German botanist and co-founder of the cell theory. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Schleid. ".
Life and work
He studied law at the University of Heidelberg in 1826 and his Doctor of rights. Then he went back to his hometown of Hamburg. Schleiden was approved on 26 October 1827 in Hamburg as a lawyer, he was enrolled as such until 1831. Since this activity did not satisfy him, he took in 1832 or 1833 at the University of Göttingen studying medicine on, in the course of which increased his interest in the natural sciences, especially botany, more and more. Here he was mostly a student of Friedrich Gottlieb Bartling. He went to Berlin in 1835, studied under Johann Horkel and dealt mainly with the plant embryology.
In 1839 he received a doctorate in phil. and got a reputation as an adjunct professor at the University of Jena. In 1850 he was promoted to full professor and he was entrusted with the management of the Botanical Garden of the University. In Jena Schleiden not only held lectures in science and botanical content; He also talked about anthropological, philosophical, cultural and historical topics. Just like Alexander von Humboldt wanted Schleiden the educated citizen arouse and stimulate interest in the natural sciences.
In 1850 he became a full professor at the University of Jena. Here he wrote Contributions to Phytogenese and noted that the different parts of the plants are made of cells. Thus, Schleiden was the first botanist who formulated what was unconfirmed theory in biology at that time. This is much important as the atomic theory of chemistry. He also recognized the importance of the cell nucleus, which was discovered in 1831 by the Scottish botanist Robert Brown. Schleiden was one of the first German botanist who accepted Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
1863 Schleiden took up an appointment at the University of Tartu (Estonia), since one there offered him a chair in plant chemistry. Again, he gave lectures for the educated middle class. Misunderstandings and quarrels with the Church could return to Dresden in 1864 resigned him. As an independent scholar he worked until his death in succession in Darmstadt, Wiesbaden and Frankfurt / M.
In his scientific work of Schleiden was close to the philosopher Jakob Friedrich Fries, in his fight against any kind of speculation which medicine and science influenced the Romantic period. Together with Theodor Schwann Schleiden created the basics of cellular pathology by Rudolf Virchow.
At the age of 77 years, Matthias Jacob Schleiden died on 23 June 1881 in Frankfurt am Main.
Honors
Matthias Jacob Schleiden was inducted into the Leopoldina in 1838; In 1854 he was appointed foreign member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. He was the genus Schlei Denia Endl honor. the plant family Boraginaceae ( Boraginaceae ) named.
According to him, the following streets and squares are named:
- Schleiden Park in Hamburg- Barmbek
- Schleiden in Berlin- Friedrichshain
- Schleiden street in Frankfurt am Main Northrend
- Schleiden street in Jena
- Mathias Schleiden- Straße in Cologne - Riehl
- Schleiden street in Hamburg with the adjacent historic complex of Schleiden Court
- Schleiden in Vienna Floridsdorf
Works
- Contributions to Phytogenesis. In: Archives of Anatomy, Physiology and scientific medicine. 1838, pp. 137-176.
- Broad scientific botany, together with a methodological introduction as a guide for the study of the plant. 2 parts. Leipzig in 1842 and 1843, later editions under the title The Botany as inductive science worked; Reprints: Olms, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 1998, ISBN 3-487-10530-6.
- The plant and their lives. Engelmann, Leipzig 1848 ( digitized and full text in German Text Archive ).
- The age of the human race, the origin of species and the position of man in nature. Engelmann, Leipzig 1863 ( digitized and full text in German Text Archive ).
- The sea. Publishing and Printing A. Sacco Nachf., Berlin 1867, DNB 1001148282; Reprints: Severus, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86347-291-7.
- The Rose. History and symbolism in ethnographic and cultural-historical relationship. Publishing and Printing Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1873; Reprints: Sändig, Wiesbaden 1973, ISBN 3-500-26940-0.