Arend Friedrich Wiegmann

Who was Arend Friedrich Wiegmann?

Arend Joachim Friedrich Wiegmann was a German pharmacist and botanist born in Hadersleben. He was the father of zoologist Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann.

Originally an apprentice pharmacist to his uncle in Braunschweig, he spent the following years working in several pharmacies in Germany and Switzerland. Following the death of his uncle in 1796, he inherited the Braunschweig pharmacy, serving as its manager until 1820. In 1821 he became a lecturer of natural sciences at the Collegium Carolinum in Braunschweig, later receiving the title of professor.

In 1839 he published a manual on phytopathology called Die Krankheiten und krankhaften Missbildungen der Gewachse. Also, he was the author of a treatise involving the origins, formation and nature of peat, titled Über die Entstehung, Bildung und das Wesen des Torfes.

In 1832, Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen named the plant genus Wiegmannia in his son's honor.