Frederik Schübeler

Who was Frederik Schübeler?

Frederik Christian "Fritz" Schübeler was a Norwegian botanist.

He was born in Fredriksstad as a son of Gregers Frederik Schübeler and Louise Christine Engstrøm. He was married twice. An adopted daughter of his, Ingeborg Strengberg, married botanical gardener Carl Theodor Schulz.

He graduated from the university with the cand.med. degree in 1840. He had physician jobs at Rikshospitalet from 1841 to 1844 and in Odalen and Lillesand between 1845 and 1847. He then studied botany and horticulture in Europe between 1848 and 1851 with a scholarship from the Royal Norwegian Society of Development. He was a curator at the Botanical Museum in Kristiania from 1852. He applied for the position as head gardener in 1857, but was rejected following resistance from professor Mathias Blytt. After the passing of Blytt, Schübeler was appointed as lecturer in botany in 1864, and professor in 1866. At the same time he became leader of the University Botanical Garden, a position he retained until 1892.

His most important publications were Die Culturpflanzen Norwegens, Die Pflanzenwelt Norwegens and Viridarium Norvegicum. Popular publications include Havebog for Almuen. He is now regarded as an incomplete theoretician, with several faulty hypotheses, but with important practical contributions. He has therefore been called "the father of horticulture in Norway".