Johann Amman facts for kids
Johann Amman (born December 22, 1707, in Schaffhausen, Switzerland – died December 14, 1741, in St Petersburg, Russia) was an important Swiss-Russian botanist. A botanist is a scientist who studies plants. He was a member of the famous Royal Society in London and a professor of botany at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.
Johann Amman's Big Book
Johann Amman is most famous for his book called Stirpium Rariorum in Imperio Rutheno Sponte Provenientium Icones et Descriptiones. This long title means "Pictures and Descriptions of Rare Plants Growing Wild in the Russian Empire." He published it in 1739.
The book described about 285 different plants from Eastern Europe and a region once known as Ruthenia (which is now Ukraine). The pictures in the book don't have an artist's name, but a special drawing at the beginning was signed by Filippo Giorgio Mattarnovi, an engraver who worked in St. Petersburg.
Amman's Life and Discoveries
Amman studied to become a doctor at Leyden University and finished his studies in 1729. After that, he moved to London, England. There, he helped Hans Sloane organize his huge collection of natural history items. Hans Sloane was a very important person who started the Chelsea Physic Garden and helped create the British Museum.
Later, Johann Amman moved to St. Petersburg, Russia. He was invited by another famous scientist, Johann Georg Gmelin. In Russia, Amman became a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He often sent interesting plants, like Gypsophila paniculata (also known as Baby's Breath), back to Hans Sloane in England. Amman also wrote many letters to Carl Linnaeus, a very famous Swedish botanist who created the system we use today to name plants and animals.
In 1735, Amman started the Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences. This garden was on Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg. In 1739, he married Elisabetha Schumacher, whose father was the court librarian in St. Petersburg.
Why a Plant Isn't Named After Him
You might think that the plant group Ammannia (which belongs to the Lythraceae family) was named after Johann Amman. However, it was actually named after a different botanist named Paul Amman (1634–1691). Paul Amman was also a botanist and a professor at the University of Leipzig. He wrote books about plants and medicines many years before Johann Amman was born.
When you see the author abbreviation Amman after a plant's scientific name, it refers to Johann Amman. This is a special way botanists show who first described a plant.
