. , Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin 1798 Jacquin was born in
Leiden in the Netherlands, the son of cloth manufacturer Claudius Nikolaus (1694–1743) Elizabeth Maria née Heyningen. He studied medicine at
Leiden University, then moved first to Paris but did not complete his studies. He took an early interest in botany from interactions with
Theodor Gronovius. In Paris he attended the lectures of
Antoine Jussieu. His father's business declined and following Jacquin's father's death in 1743 he received help from
Gerard van Swieten who had been their family physician. Their son Gottfried van Swieten (1733-1803) was also born in Leiden. Van Swieten had moved to Vienna to serve as protomedicus to
Maria Theresa. He suggested that Jacquin study at Vienna which led to the move here in 1752 to complete his medical studies. He however spent time studying plants in the imperial gardens of Schönbrunn with Adrian van Steckhoven and Richard van der Schot. From 1754 to 1759 he was attached to the Austrian expedition to the West Indies to study and collect scientific objects. He collected plants for
Francis I to grow at the
Schönbrunn Palace, and amassed a large collection of animal, plant and mineral samples. In 1797,
Alexander von Humboldt profited from studying these collections and conversing with Jacquin in preparation of his own journey to the Americas. In 1763, thanks to Van Swieten who suggested Jacquin to Johann Siegfried Graf Herberstein, he was appointed as professor of chemistry and
mineralogy at the
Bergakademie Schemnitz (now
Banská Štiavnica in Slovakia). In 1768, he was appointed Professor of Botany and Chemistry and became director of the
botanical gardens of the
University of Vienna. For his work, he received the title
Edler in 1774. In 1783, he was elected a foreign member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1806, he was created a baron. In 1809, he became a correspondent of the Royal Institute, which later became the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Jacquin's main interest was in botany and plant systematics, corresponding with Carolus Linnaeus. He began to describe plants from the collections in his
Enumeratio sterpium agri Vindobonensis (1762) and
Selectarum sterpium americanarum historia (1763) and made us of artists to illustrate plants. While in Schemnitz he grew plants and published three volumes of
Observationum botanicarum iconibus ab auctore delineatis illustratarum. Under his supervision he developed the botanical garden at Schönbrunn from 1780 and made it a rich collection. Jacquin married Catharina (d. 1791) daughter of councillor Johann Heinrich Schreibers of Vienna. Jacquin collaborated with scholars who regularly came to his home. He had a mastery of Greek and Latin and worked on the Dioscorides manuscripts in Vienna. He also played the flute. ==Publications==