NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Philipp Franz von Siebold

Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold (February 17, 1796 in Würzburg - October 18, 1866 in Munich) was a German physician. He emerged as the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan. He obtained significance for his study of Japanese flora and fauna that were endemic to the unique biotic island landscape.. ImageMetadata File history File links VonSiebold01. ... ImageMetadata File history File links VonSiebold01. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... WÃ¼rzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). ... 1866 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Munich: Frauenkirche and Town Hall steeple Munich (German: MÃ¼nchen (pronounced listen) is the state capital of the German state of Bavaria. ... In Botany a Flora (or FlorÃ¦) is a collective term for plant life and can also refer to a descriptive catalogue of the plants of any geographical area, geological period, etc. ... Fauna is a collective term for animal life. ... Biotic factors are factors produced by living organisms that affect the ability of other living organisms to survive in an environment. ...

Born in Wurzburg, Bavaria into a family of doctors and professors of medicine, von Siebold initially studied medicine at the university of his hometown from november 1815. One of his professors was Franz Xaver Heller (1775-1840), author of the Flora Wirceburgensis (flora of the Grand Duchy of Würzburg, 1810-1811). Ignaz Döllinger (1770-1841), his professor of anatomy and physiology, however, most influenced him. Döllinger was one of the first professsors to understand and treat medicine as a natural science. Von Siebold stayed at Dollinger's, where he came in regular contact with other scientists. He read the books of Alexander von Humboldt, a famous naturalist and explorer, which likely raised his desire for travels to far-away, distant lands. Philipp von Siebold became a Doctor by earning his M.D. in 1820. He initially practiced medicine in Heidingsfeld, Germany. The Free State of Bavaria (German: Bayern or Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 kmÂ² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, Baron von Humboldt, (September 14, 1769, Berlinâ€“May 6, 1859, Berlin), was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt. ...

Invited to Holland by an acquaintance of the family, von Siebold applied for a position as a military doctor. This position would enable him to travel to the Dutch colonies. He entered Dutch military service on June 19, 1822. He was appointed ship's doctor on the frigate Adriana on the voyage from Rotterdam to Batavia (present-day Djakarta) in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). On his trip to Batavia on the frigate Adriana, he practiced his knowledge of the Dutch language and rapidly learned Malay. During the long trip, von Siebold started a collection of sea fauna. He arrived in Batavia on February 18, 1823. This page is about the capital city of Indonesia. ... The Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, (Dutch: Nederlands IndiÃ«) was the name of the colonies set up by the Dutch East India Company, which came under administration of the Netherlands during the 19th century (see Indonesia). ... The Malay language, also known locally as Bahasa Melayu, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Malay people who are native to the Malay peninsula, southern Thailand, Singapore, central eastern Sumatra, the Riau islands, and parts of the coast of Borneo. ...

As an army medical officer, von Siebold posted with an artillery unit. He stayed, however, a couple of weeks at the residence of the governor-general to recover from illness. With his erudition, he impressed the governor-general baron Van der Capellen and the head of the botanical garden Buitenzorg Caspar Georg Karl Reinwardt. Already, these men witnessed a second Engelbert Kaempfer and Carl Peter Thunberg (author of Flora Japonica), both former resident physicians at Deshima. The Batavian Academy of Arts and Science made von Siebold a member. Engelbert Kaempfer (September 16, 1651 - November 2, 1716) was a German traveller and physician. ... Carl Peter Thunberg (November 11, 1743 _ August 8, 1828) was a Swedish naturalist. ...

Sent to Deshima Island Nagasaki in June 28, 1823, von Siebold arrived August 11, 1823 as the new resident physician and scientist to the island. During his eventful trip he barely escaped drowning during a typhoon in the East-Chinese Sea. Since only a very limited number of Dutch citizens were allowed on this island, the posts of physician and scientist had to be combined. At that time, Deshima was no longer in the possession of the Dutch East Indian Company but was kept running by the Dutch State, because of political reasons. View of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay Scale model of Dutch trading post on display in Dejima (2003) Edo-era boundaries of Dejima island (outlined in red) within the modern city of Nagasaki. ... Nagasaki at night, 2003 Megane-bashi (Spectacles Bridge) Nagasaki listen? (é•·å´Žå¸‚; -shi, literally long peninsula) is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture located on the south-western coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four mainland islands of Japan. ... A physician is a person who practices medicine. ... This article is about the profession. ...

Von Siebold invited Japanese scientists to show them the marvels of western science, learning in return through them much about the Japanese and their customs. After curing a local influential officer, von Siebold gained the ability to leave the trade post. He used this opportunity to treat Japanese patients in the greater area around the trade post.

Since mixed marriages were forbidden, von Siebold "lived together" with his Japanese partner Kusomoto Sonogi. In 1827 Kusomoto Sonogi gave birth to their daughter, Oine. Later, Oine became the first Japanese "doctor" and midwife (hebamme). She died in 1903. Von Siebold used to call his wife "Otakusa" and named a Hydrangea after her. Species See text Hydrangea (scientific name: Hydrangea, pronounced: haidrÃ©indÊ’iÉ™) is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia (from Japan to China, the Himalaya and Indonesia) and North and South America. ...

Von Siebold conducted research with the aid of 50 interpreters (appointed by the Shogun) and Japanese students, called Rangaku. His house, the Narutaki school, grew into a meeting place for around 50 Rangakusha. Recognized by the Japanese, von Siebold served as an expert on Western science. The Dutch language became the lingua franca (common spoken language) for these academic and scholarly contacts. In Japanese history, a shogun (å°†è» shÅgun) was the practical ruler of Japan for most of the time from 1192 to the Meiji Era beginning in 1868. ... Rangaku (蘭学) or Dutch Learning was the method by which Japan kept abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the country was closed to foreigners, 1641-1853, because of the Tokugawa shogunates policy of national isolation (sakoku). ...

His patients paid him in all kinds of objects and artifacts that would later gain significance. These everyday objects later became the basis of his large ethnographic collection, which consisted of everyday household goods, woodblock prints, tools and hand-crafted objects used by the Japanese people. Ethnography (from the Greek ethnos = nation and graphein = writing) refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on fieldwork. ...

His main interest, however, focused on the study of Japanese fauna and flora. He collected as much material as he could. Starting a small botanical garden behind his home (there was not much room on the small island) von Siebold amassed over 1,000 native plants. In a specially built glasshouse he cultivated the Japanese plants to endure the Dutch climate. Local Japanese artists drew images of these plants, creating botanical illustrations and images of the daily life in Japan, which complemented his ethnographic collection. He hired Japanese hunters to track rare animals and collect specimens. Many specimens were collected with the help of the Japanese collaborators Ito Keiske (1803—1901), Mizutani Sugeroku (1779—1833), Ohkochi Zonshin (1796—1882) and Katsuragawa Hoken (1797—1844), a physician to the Shogun. As well, von Siebold's assistant and later successor, Heinrich Bürger (1806-1858), proved to be indispensable in carrying on von Siebold's work in Japan. A greenhouse in Saint Paul, Minnesota. ...

Von Siebold first introduced to Europe such familiar garden-plants as the Hosta and the Hydrangea otaksa. Unknown to the Japanese, he was also able to smuggle out germinative seeds of tea plants to the botanical garden Buitenzorg in Batavia. Through this single act, he startied the tea culture in Java, a Dutch colony at the time. Untill then Japan had strictly guarded the trade in tea plants. Remarkably, in 1833, Java already could boast a half million tea plants. Species Hosta atropurpurea Hosta capitata Hosta cathayana Hosta clausa Hosta crassifolia Hosta crispula Hosta decorata Hosta fluctuans Hosta fortunei Hosta gracillima Hosta helenioides Hosta hypoleuca Hosta ibukiensis Hosta jonesii Hosta kikutii Hosta lancifolia Hosta longipes Hosta longissima Hosta minor Hosta montana Hosta nakaiana Hosta nigrescens Hosta opipara Hosta plantaginea Hosta... Species See text Hydrangea (scientific name: Hydrangea, pronounced: haidrÃ©indÊ’iÉ™) is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia (from Japan to China, the Himalaya and Indonesia) and North and South America. ... Tea Culture Without tea there would not be any Chinese nor Chinese culture! The original cup of tea was not invented but discovered as a course of daily affair of the simple inhabitants in the hills of Min-nan. ... Map of Java Java (Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia, and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. ... In politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a geographically-distant state (or city, in ancient times). ...

During his stay at Deshima, he sent three shipments with an unknown number of herbarium specimens to Leiden, Gent, Brussels and Antwerp. The shipment to Leiden contained the first specimens of the Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus) to be sent to Europe. gent is a morpheme, see contingent, agent, short for gentleman Native spelling for the Belgian city of Ghent This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, French: Bruxelles, German: BrÃ¼ssel) is the capital of Belgium and is considered by many to be the headquarters of the European Union, as two of its four main institutions have their headquarters in the... The Cathedral of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp) in the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to a number of triptychs by Renaissance Belgian painter Rubens. ...

In 1825 the East Indian Company provided him with two assistants : apothecary and mineralogist Heinrich Bürger (his later successor) and the painter Carl Hubert de Villeneuve. Each would prove to be useful to von Siebold's efforts that ranged from ethnographical to botanical to horticultural, when attempting to document the exotic Eastern Japanese experience.

Reportedly, von Siebold was not the easiest man to deal with; as he continuously conflicted with his Dutch superiors, who held against him his superior attitude. This thread of conflict resulted in his recall in July 1827 back to Batavia. But the ship, the Cornelis Houtman, sent to carry von Siebold back to Batavia, was thrown ashore by a typhoon in Nagasaki bay. The same storm badly damaged Dejima and destroyed von Siebold's botanical garden. Repaired, the Cornelis Houtman set afloat. It left for Batavia with 89 crates of von Siebold's salvaged botanical collection, but von Siebold, however, remained behind in Dejima.

In 1828 von Siebold made the court journey to Edo. During this long trip he collected many plants and animals. But he also obtained several maps of Japan and Korea from the court astronomer Takahashi, an act that was strictly forbidden by the Japanese government. When the Japanese discovered, by accident, that von Siebold had mapped parts of Japan, the government accused him of high treason and for being a spy for Russia. Edo (Japanese: æ±Ÿæˆ¸, literally: bay-door, estuary), once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo. ...

The Japanese ordered von Siebold into house arrest and expelled him from Japan on October 22, 1829. Satisfied that his Japanese collaborators would continue his work, he journeyed back on the frigate Java to his former residence, Batavia, in possession of his enormous collection of thousands of animals and plants, his books and ... his maps. The botanical garden of Buitenzorg would soon house von Siebold's surviving, living flora collection of 2,000 plants. He arrived in the Netherlands on July 7, 1830. His stay in Japan and Batavia lasted for a period of eight years. 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Von Siebold arrived just at a moment when, in 1830, political troubles erupted in Brussels, leading soon to the Belgian independence. Hastly he salvaged his ethnographic collections in Antwerp and his herbaria specimens in Brussels. Unfortunately, he left behind his botanical collections of living plants that were sent to the University of Gent. The consequent expansion of this collection of rare and exotic plants led to the horticultural fame of Gent. Nevertheless, the University of Gent presented him in 1841, in gratitude, specimens of every plant from his original collection.

Von Siebold settled in Leiden, taking with him the major part of his collection. The "von Siebold collection," containing many Species Type specimens, was the earliest botanical collection from Japan. It still remains a subject of ongoing research, a testimony to the depth of work undertaken by von Siebold. . It contained about 12,000 specimens, from which he could describe only about 2,300 species. The whole collection was purchased for a handsome amount by the Dutch government. As well, von Siebold was granted a generous annual allowanced by the Dutch King Willem I. In 1842 the King raised von Siebold to the peerage as an esquire. Leiden (in English also, but now rarely, Leyden) is a city and municipality in South Holland, The Netherlands. ...

The "von Siebold collection" opened to the public in 1831. He founded a museum in his home in 1837. His successor in Japan, the aforementioned Heinrich Bürger, sent him three more shipments of specimens. This flora collection formed the basis of the Japanese collections of the National Herbarium in Leiden and the Museum Naturalis. This museum later grew into the well-known and respected National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden. Download high resolution version (776x1200, 86 KB)Flora Japonica (by Ph. ... Download high resolution version (776x1200, 86 KB)Flora Japonica (by Ph. ...

During his stay in Leiden, he authored Nippon in 1832, the first tome of a richly illustrated ethnographical and geographical work on Japan. It also contained a report of his journey to the Shogunate Court at Edo. Given the scale of von Siebold's other publications, he proved to be quite prodigious; as six more tomes would appear until 1882. 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

More over, the Bibliotheca Japonica appeared between 1833 and 1841. This work was co-authored by Joseph Hoffmann and Kuo Cheng-Chang, a Javanese from Chinese origin who journyed along with von Siebold from Batavia. It contained a survey of Japanese literature and, in addition, a Chinese, Japanese and Korean dictionary.

The zoologists Coenraad Temminck (1777-1858), Hermann Schlegel (1804-1884) and Wilhem de Haan (1801-1855) "scientifically" described and documented von Siebold's collection of Japanese animals. The result led to the Fauna Japonica, a series of monographs published between 1833 and 1850, making the Japanese fauna the best-described non-European fauna - a remarkable feat for von Siebold. Coenraad Jacob Temminck (March 31, 1778 - January 30, 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat and zoologist. ... Hermann Schlegel. ... Wilhem de Haan (1801-1855) was a Dutch zoologist. ...

Additionally von Siebold produced his Flora Japonica in collaboration with the German botanist Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini (1797-1848). It first appeared in 1835. The completed version, however, did not appear until after his death, finished in 1870 by F.A.W. Miquel (1811-1871), director of the Rijksherbarium in Leiden. This work established von Siebold's scientific fame, not only--and already--in Japan, but in Europe as well. Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini (10 August 1797 - 18 February 1848) was a German botanist, Professor of Botany at the University of München. ...

From the Hortus Botanicus Leiden--the botanical gardens of Leiden--many of Siebold's plants started their conquest of Europe and from there to other countries. Hosta and hortensia, Azalea, and the Japanese butterbur and the coltsfoot as well as the Japanese larch were the conquest that, then, begun to inhabit gardens across the "world," which likely consisted of the Colonial Trans-Atlantic, where trade flourished both in the North and the South, the East and the West of the two opposing hemispheres--the “Old World” and “New World.” The Hortus Botanicus of Leiden is the oldest botanical garden of the Netherlands, and one of the oldest in the world. ... Azaleas are flowering shrubs making up part of the genus Rhododendron. ... Species Petasites frigidus Petasites hybridus Petasites japonicus Petasites sagittatus Petasites speciosa Petasites X vitifolius Ref: ITIS 36053 The plants commonly referred to as Butterbur are found in the daisy family Asteraceae in the genus Petasites. ... Binomial name Tussilago farfara Coltsfoot or Tussilago farfara is a genus of the family Asteraceae. ...

Though he is a hero to the Japanese ('Siborut-san'), mentioned in all schoolbooks, von Siebold is almost unknown to the Dutch or Germans, except among gardeners who admire many plants with the entitlement of the sieboldii and sieboldiana. The Hortus botanicus in Leiden has recently laid out the "von Siebold memorial garden", a Japanese garden with plants sent by von Siebold. Japanese visitors come and visit this garden, so as to pay their respect for this remarkable man by bowing in front of his statue. Sir Galahad, a hero of Arthurian legend In mythology and folklore, a hero (male) or heroine (female) is an eminent character who quintessentially embodies key traits valued by its originating culture. ...

The botanical and horticultural spheres of influence have honored von Siebold by naming some of the finest and most garden-worthy plants in their genera. Examples are as follows:

Insomuch as these examples demonstrate the honor gained by von Siebold, then so, too, are there more plants not mentioned as a tribute to him. This Osteospermum Pink Whirls is a successful cultivar. ... Binomial name Magnolia sieboldii Siebolds magnolia, (Magnolia sieboldii), also known as Oyama magnolia, is native to Japan and Korea. ...

In later years, von Siebold became an advisor on Japanese cultural and social issues for several governments. This position granted von Siebold a return to Japan as an "adviser" from 1859 till 1863. While back in Japan, he went to see Kusomoto Sonogi several times. His proposals for a "cultural" approach to the Japanese, instead of a "mercantile" approach were not appreciated by the Dutch government. The Dutch Government recalled von Siebold, first to Batavia and then to Holland. Desillusioned by this lack of understanding of Japan and his own failure to be appreciated, von Siebold returned to his native town of Würzburg, offering in vain his services to the French and Russian governments.

Against this dissilusionment, a testimony of the remarkable character of von Siebold is found in the several museums dedicated to him. A museum is typically a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment. ...

His collections laid the foundation for the ethnographic museum of Munich. Alexander von Siebold, his son to his European wife, donated much of the material left behind after von Siebold's death in Würzburg to the British Museum in London. The Royal Scientific Academy of St. Petersburg purchased 600 colored plates of the Flora Japonica. The main entrance to the British Museum The British Museum in London is the United Kingdoms - and one of the worlds - largest and most important museums of human history and culture. ...

The European tradition of sending doctors with botanical training to Japan had been long in existence. Sent on a mission by the Dutch East India Company, Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716), a German physician and a botanist who lived in Japan from 1690 until 1692, ushered in this tradition of a combination of physician and botanist. The Dutch East India Company did not, however, actually employ the Swedish botanist and physician Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), who arrived in Japan in 1775. Engelbert Kaempfer (September 16, 1651 - November 2, 1716) was a German traveller and physician. ... Carl Peter Thunberg (November 11, 1743 _ August 8, 1828) was a Swedish naturalist. ...

His other son Heinrich (Henry) von Siebold (1852–1908), continued part of his father's research. As well, he is recognized together with Edward S. Morse as one of the founders of modern archaeological efforts in Japan. Edward Sylvester Morse (June 18, 1838 â€“ December 20, 1925) was a US zoologist and orientalist. ... Importance and applicability Most of human history is not described by any written records. ...

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Categories: Botanists with author abbreviations | German botanists | Botanists active in Japan | 1796 births | 1866 deaths | History of Japan In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ... This is a list of botanists by their author abbreviation. ...