August Grisebach

August Heinrich Rudolf Grisebach ([ˈaʊɡʊst ˈhaɪnrɪç ˈʁuːdɔlf ˈɡriːzəbax]) was a German botanist and phytogeographer. He was born in Hannover on 17 April 1814 and died in Göttingen on 9 May 1879.

Biography

Grisebach studied at the Lyceum in Hanover, the cloister-school at Ilfeld, and the University of Göttingen. He graduated in medicine from the University of Berlin in 1836. He undertook expeditions to Provence, Turkey, the Balkans, and Norway. In 1837 he became associate professor and in 1847 full professor at the medical faculty in Göttingen and was named director of the botanical garden there in 1875. While his main fields of interest were phytogeography and systematics, especially the Gentianaceae and Malpighiaceae, he considered his Flora of the British West Indian Islands his most important work. Much of his collection, especially the types of species described by him, are housed at the Göttingen University Herbarium. His taxonomic classification is set out in his Grundriss der systematischen Botanik (1854). His son Eduard was an author, lawyer and diplomat.

Selected works