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Edward Frederick Leitner

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Edward Frederick Leitner, also Friedrich August Ludwig Leitner (February 4, 1812 – January 15, 1838) was a German botanist, naturalist and physician. He was killed in Florida during the Seminole Wars after volunteering to be a combat medic.

Edward Frederick Leitner
BornFebruary 4, 1812
Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg
DiedJanuary 15, 1838 (aged 25)
Near Jupiter Inlet, Florida, United States
Alma materUniversity of Tübingen
Medical University of South Carolina
OccupationBotanist
Physician
Known forResearching plant life in South Florida
Military career
Allegiance United States
Battles / wars

Frederick Leitner was born in Stuttgart on February 4, 1812 to Johann Friedrich Leitner and Karoline Friedericke Bühler. His father was a gardener in the court of King Frederick I of Württemberg.[1] At the age of four, his family moved to Schorndorf after the death of his father. Following studies of botany at the University of Tübingen, he moved to the United States after receiving a subsidy from the Society of Natural Sciences in Württemberg.

In 1831, Leitner began taking classes at the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston. In 1832, he befriended the famous naturalist John James Audubon while he was visiting Charleston.[2] In 1833, he began to travel to Florida and collect botanical and zoological specimens in the Everglades. During his travels he eventually reached the Florida Keys, during which, he paid a visit to the Dry Tortugas.[3]In 1834, he graduated from medical college with a dissertation on Hippomane mancinella, subsequently working as a lecturer at the South Carolina Medical Society.

The Seminole War that began in 1835 obstructed Leitner's research in South Florida, as the region had become a dangerous war zone. Leitner planned to join a U.S. Military unit, as it was the only way he could still travel through Florida and continue his research.[4] In 1836 he traveled to Key West, where he joined U.S. Navy Lieutenant Levin M. Powell's unit as a guide and surgeon. On 15 January 1838, he was killed by Seminole warriors at the First Battle of the Loxahatchee.[3] It was reported in a newspaper that he was likely targeted by the Seminoles because of his role as a combat medic.[4] His body was never recovered after the battle.

At the time of Leitner's death, he was considered one of the world's leading experts on Florida's nature.[4] After his death, 800 of his specimens eventually came into the possession of Jean Louis Cabanis in Germany, however these specimens were completely destroyed during the Bombing of Berlin in 1943. The genus Leitneria is named in his honor,[5] as is the family Leitneriaceae, the latter taxa being circumscribed by George Bentham.[6][7]

Publications associated with Leitner

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  • "Edward Frederick Leitner (1812-1838), Physician-botanist", by George Edmund Gifford (1972).[8]
The standard author abbreviation Leitn. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Bulletin of the History of Medicine. Johns Hopkins University Press. 1972.
  2. ^ Wickman, Patricia Riles (2006-08-27). Osceola's Legacy. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-5332-2.
  3. ^ a b JSTOR Global Plants biography
  4. ^ a b c Strang, Cameron B. (2018-06-13). Frontiers of Science: Imperialism and Natural Knowledge in the Gulf South Borderlands, 1500-1850. UNC Press Books. ISBN 978-1-4696-4048-8.
  5. ^ BHL Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications
  6. ^ JSTOR Global Plants Entry for Leitneria Chapman, family Leitneriaceae
  7. ^ The families of flowering plants Leitneriaceae Benth.
  8. ^ Google Books Edward Frederick Leitner (1812-1838), Physician-botanist
  9. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Leitn.
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