Johann Andreas Buchner

Who was Johann Andreas Buchner?

Johann Andreas Buchner was a German pharmacologist working in the area of alkaloids. He was the father of pharmacologist Ludwig Andreas Buchner.

He studied at Johann Bartholomäus Trommsdorff's pharmaceutical institute in Erfurt, obtaining his PhD in 1807. In 1809 he became Oberapotheker of the Zentral-Stiftungs-Apotheke for hospitals in Munich. In 1818 he was appointed an associate professor of pharmacy, medical formula instruction and toxicology at the University of Landshut, where he later became a full professor of pharmacy. When the university relocated to Munich, he moved back to his home town, where he lived and worked until his death.

He is credited with isolating salicin from willow bark and the discovery of berberine.