[A Prussian in Venice: the botanist Melchior Wieland (1520-1589), pioneer in botanical field research in the Levant].

Abstract

The Italian physician and botanist Prospero Alpini (1553-1617) is considered as one of the most famous 16th Century Italian botanists having explored the plant species of Egypt and the Near East. Alpinis best-known works as for example De medicina Egyptiorum (Venetijs 1591) or De plantis Aegypti liber (Venetijs 1592), however, wouldn't certainly have been made possible without the influence of his academic teacher, the Prussian physician and botanist Melchior Wieland (ca. 1520-1589), having been applied director of the botanical garden of Padua in 1561. This study is therefore dedicated to the life, academic career, works and reception of this nearly forgotten botanist.