Friedrich Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn (October 26, 1809 in
MansfeldMansfeld is a town in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Wipper, 10 km northwest of Eisleben....
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
– April 24, 1864 in
LembangLembang is a town in the province of West Java in Java, Indonesia. The population is 183,300.Lembang is situated between 1,312 and 2,084 above sea level. Its highest point is on top of Tangkuban Perahu Mt...
,
BandungBandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...
,
West JavaWest Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...
), was a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
botanist. His father, Friedrich Junghuhn was a barber and a surgeon. His mother was Christine Marie Schiele. Junghuhn studied medicine in
HalleHalle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
and in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
from 1827 to 1831, meanwhile (1830) publishing a seminal paper on
mushroomA mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s in
Limnaea. Ein Journal für Botanik.
Early life
As a student Junghuhn was given to bouts of depression and he attempted suicide. He became involved in a 'matter of honor', and in the ensuing duel was himself hit, but perhaps unknown to him his opponent died of his wounds. Junghuhn fled by taking service in the
Prussian armyThe Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
as a
surgeonIn medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
but was discovered and sentenced to ten years in prison. He feigned insanity, and was able to escape in the Autumn of 1833. He was briefly a member of the
French Foreign LegionThe French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
in North Africa but was dismissed on account of his poor health. At Paris, he sought out the famed Dutch botanist
Christian Hendrik PersoonChristiaan Hendrik Persoon was a mycologist who made additions to Linnaeus' mushroom taxonomy.-Early life:...
, who recommended that Junghuhn "enlist in the Dutch colonial army, and have yourself sent to the Dutch East Indies as a medical doctor". Junghuhn did so, leaving Europe (Hellevoetsluis) in the early Summer of 1835, arriving in
JakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
(then called "Batavia") on October 13, 1835.
Java
Junghuhn settled on Java, where he made an extensive study of the land and its people. He discovered the
Kawah PutihKawah Putih is a striking crater lake and tourist spot in a volcanic crater about 50 km south of Bandung in West Java in Indonesia.Kawah Putih lake is one of the two craters which make up Mount Patuha, an andesitic stratovolcano . Mt Patuha is one of numerous volcanoes in Java. The Kawah...
crater lake south of Bandung in 1837. He completed
Die Topographischen und Naturwissenschaftlichen Reisen durch Java (
Topographic and Scientific Journeys in Java) in 1845 and
Die Bättalander auf Sumatra ("
BatakBatak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The term is used to include the Toba, Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Angkola and Mandailing, each of which are distinct but related groups with distinct, albeit related, languages and...
lands of
SumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
") in 1847. In 1849, ill health forced his return to
Holland, where he married Johanna Louisa Frederika Koch on January 23, 1850, and had a son. While in Holland, Junghuhn began work on a four volume treatise,
Java, seine Gestalt, Pflanzendecke, und sein innerer Bau (
Images of Light and Shadow from Java's interior) released anonymously between 1850 and 1854. The work was controversial, advocating
socialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
in the colonies and fiercely criticizing
ChristianChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and
IslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic proselytization of the Javanese people. Junghuhn instead wrote of his preference for a form of
PandeismPandeism or Pan-Deism , is a term describing beliefs incorporating or mixing logically reconcilable elements of pantheism and deism Pandeism or Pan-Deism (from and meaning "God" in the sense of deism), is a term describing beliefs incorporating or mixing logically reconcilable elements of...
(pantheistic
deismDeism in religious philosophy is the belief that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is the product of an all-powerful creator. According to deists, the creator does not intervene in human affairs or suspend the...
), contending that God was in everything, but could only be determined through reason. The work was
banned in
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and parts of
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for its "denigrations and vilifications of Christianity", but was a strong seller in Holland where it was first published pseudonymously. It was also popular in colonial
IndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, despite opposition from the Dutch Christian Church there. The publisher of the first volume, Jacobus Hazenberg, refused to continue his association with the work; the remaining four were published by the outspoken liberal, Frans Günst, from volume three as installments (from October 1, 1855) of the newly founded journal for
freethinkerFreethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...
s,
De Dageraad (Dawn).
Recovered from his ills, Junghuhn returned to Java in 1855. Highly interested in botany and its practical applications, he (together with J.E. de Vrij of
BandungBandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...
) became embroiled in a bitter and extended controversy with Johannes Teijsmann, hortulanus of 's Lands Plantentuin at Buitenzorg (now
BogorBogor is a city on the island of Java in the West Java province of Indonesia. The city is located in the center of the Bogor Regency , 60 kilometers south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta...
) and J.C. Hasskarl about the effectiveness of
CinchonaCinchona or Quina is a genus of about 38 species in the family Rubiaceae, native to tropical South America. They are large shrubs or small trees growing 5–15 metres in height with evergreen foliage. The leaves are opposite, rounded to lanceolate and 10–40 cm long. The flowers are white, pink...
species in the treatment of
malariaMalaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
. This controversy was conducted in public and in print with open letters to and demands on "Het Natuurkundig Genootschap"; part of this exchange of minds can be followed in
Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië from 1862 onwards. He remained on Java until his death from
liver diseaseLiver disease is a broad term describing any single number of diseases affecting the liver.-Diseases:* Hepatitis, inflammation of the liver, caused mainly by various viruses but also by some poisons , autoimmunity or hereditary conditions...
in 1864. On his
deathbedA deathbed is a place where a person dies or lies in during the last few hours before death.Deathbed may also refer to:* Deathbed conversion, a religious faith conversion...
, Junghung asked the doctor to open the windows, so he could say goodbye to the mountains that he loved. A minor item of trivia playing into discussions of Junghuhn is his
surnameA surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
, literally translated as "young
chickenThe chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
".
The plants
Cyathea junghuhnianaCyathea junghuhniana is a species of tree fern native to southern and central Sumatra and western Java, where it grows in forest at an altitude of 1000-2000 m. The trunk of this species is erect and may be 2 m tall or more. Fronds are tripinnate and up to about 3 m long. The stipes of this species...
and
Nepenthes junghuhniiNepenthes junghuhnii is a tropical pitcher plant belonging to the genus Nepenthes. This species has been the source of much confusion since its discovery. The taxon originally named N. junghuhnii by John Muirhead Macfarlane has never been formally published...
are named after Franz Junghuhn.
External links