Hedwig, Johannes (1730-1799)

Transylvanian-born German botanist whose Fundamentum historiae naturalis muscorum frondosorum 1782 led to his establishment as a leading expert on the grouping and early classification of mosses. He was especially interested in the relationship between, and the reproduction of, mosses and liverworts.

Hedwig was born in Kronstadt, Transylvania and attended the University of Leipzig 1752, where he graduated in medicine 1759. He set up a practice in Chemnitz, Saxony. In his spare time he studied botany.

In 1784, he was made director of the military hospital in Leipzig, where he had been living since 1781. He was made professor of botany and director of the botanical gardens 1789, although he continued to work as a doctor.