Editing Johan Christian Fabricius

{{Short description|Danish zoologist (1745–1808)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Johann Christian Fabricius
| image             = J. C. Fabricius (détail).jpg
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1745|1|7|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Tønder]], [[Duchy of Schleswig|Schleswig]] (now Denmark)
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1808|3|3|1745|1|7|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Kiel]], [[Duchy of Holstein|Holstein]] (now Germany)
| citizenship       = Danish
| education         = [[University of Copenhagen]], [[University of Uppsala]]
| fields            = {{Unbulleted list|[[Zoology]]}}
| workplaces        = {{ubl|University of Copenhagen|[[University of Kiel]]}}
| author_abbrev_zoo = '''Fabricius'''
| author_abbrev_bot = '''J.Fabr.'''
| known_for         = Classification of the insects
}}
'''Johann Christian Fabricius''' (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish [[zoology|zoologist]], specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all [[arthropod]]s: [[insect]]s, [[arachnid]]s, [[crustacean]]s and others. He was a student of [[Carl Linnaeus]], and is considered<ref>Bengt-Olaf Landin 1971 ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' Vol 4, pp. 512–513. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.</ref> one of the most important entomologists of the 18th century, having named nearly 10,000 species of animals, and established the basis for the modern insect [[Biological classification|classification]].

==Biography==
Johann Christian Fabricius was born on 7 January 1745 at [[Tønder]] in the [[Duchy of Schleswig]], where his father was a doctor.<ref name="Damkaer"/><ref name="Sneli"/> He studied at the [[gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] at [[Altona, Hamburg|Altona]] and entered the [[University of Copenhagen]] in 1762.<ref name="Dansk"/> Later the same year he travelled together with his friend and relative [[Johan Zoëga]] to [[Uppsala University|Uppsala]], where he studied under [[Carl Linnaeus]] for two years.<ref name="Dansk"/> On his return, he started work on his {{lang|la|Systema entomologiae}}, which was finally published in 1775.<ref name="Dansk"/> Throughout this time, he remained dependent on subsidies from his father, who worked as a consultant at [[Frederiks Hospital]].<ref name="Dansk"/>

Fabricius was appointed a professor in Copenhagen in 1770, and in 1775 or 1776, the [[University of Kiel]] appointed Fabricius professor of natural history and economics, promising that they would build a [[natural history museum]] and a [[botanical garden]].<ref name="Sneli"/> Although he tried to resign three times, on one occasion only being prevented by an appeal from his students to the [[King of Denmark|Danish King]] and [[Duke of Schleswig]], [[Christian VII of Denmark|Christian VII]],<ref name="Sneli"/> Fabricius held the position at Kiel for the rest of his life.<ref name="Damkaer"/>

During his time in Kiel, Fabricius repeatedly travelled to London in the summer to study the collections of British collectors, such as [[Joseph Banks]] and [[Dru Drury]].<ref name="petymol">{{cite book |url=http://www.tmbl.gu.se/libdb/taxon/personetymol/petymol.ef.html |chapter=Johann(n) Christian Fabricius |title=Biographical Etymology of Marine Organism Names |publisher=[[University of Gothenburg|Göteborgs Universitet]] |author=Hans G. Hansson |access-date=14 September 2010 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225194053/https://www.tmbl.gu.se/libdb/taxon/personetymol/petymol.ef.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Towards the end of his career, Fabricius spent much of his time living in [[Paris]], where he frequently met with naturalists such as [[Georges Cuvier]] and [[Pierre André Latreille]];<ref name="Sneli"/> he was also interested in the events of the [[French Revolution]]. On hearing of the [[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|British attack on Copenhagen]] in 1807, Fabricius returned to Kiel, damaging his already fragile health. He died on 3 March 1808, at the age of 63.<ref name="Sneli"/> His daughter died in an accident in Paris, but he was survived by two sons, who both studied [[medicine]].<ref name="Damkaer">{{cite book |title=The Copepodologist's Cabinet: A Biographical and Bibliographical History |series=Volume 240 of Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society |year=2002 |publisher=[[American Philosophical Society]] |isbn=978-0-87169-240-5 |author=David M. Damkaer |chapter=Johann Christian Fabricius |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TgUNAAAAIAAJ/page/n85 67]–71 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TgUNAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>

==Evolution==

The evolutionary ideas of Fabricius are not well known. He believed that man originated from the [[Hominidae|great apes]] and that new [[species]] could be formed by the [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]] of existing species.<ref name="Complete 2008">''Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography''. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. 512–513.</ref> He also has been called the "Father of [[Lamarckism]]" because of his belief that new species could form from morphological adaptation.<ref name="Complete 2008"/><ref>Kragh, Helge; Nielsen, Henry. (2008). ''Science in Denmark: A Thousand-year History''. Aarhus University Press. p. 210. {{ISBN|978-8779343177}} "Some historians of science have pointed out so many similarities between Fabricius and Lamarck that they find it possible the Frenchman in Paris was inspired by the Dane, implying that the latter was, in reality, "the father of Lamarckism".</ref> Fabricius wrote about the influence of environment on development of species and [[Sexual selection|selection]] phenomena (females preferring the strongest males).<ref name="Complete 2008"/><ref name="Tuxen"/>

==Works==
{{see also|:Category:Taxa named by Johann Christian Fabricius}}
Fabricius is considered one of the greatest [[entomology|entomologists]] of the 18th century.<ref name="Sneli"/> He was a greater observer of insects than his more [[botany|botanically]]-minded mentor, [[Carl Linnaeus]]. Fabricius named 9,776 species of insects, compared to Linnaeus' tally of around 3,000.<ref name="Tuxen"/>  He identified many species of [[Tenebrionidae]] from the Egyptian Sinai on the basis of other entomologists' collections.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lillig|first1=Martin |last2=Pavlíček|first2=Tomáš |title=The Darkling Beetles of the Sinai Peninsula: Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae (excl. Lagriinae Et Alleculinae)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IyPMW_eFxr8C&pg=PA2|year=2003|publisher=Kasparek Verlag|isbn=978-3-925064-37-1|page=2}}</ref>

Fabricius added two distinct areas to the classification system.  He considers both artificial and natural characteristics. Artificial characteristics allow for the determination of a species, and natural ones allow for the relationship to other genera and varieties.<ref name="Tuxen"/>

In contrast to Linnaeus' classification of the insects, which was based primarily on the number of [[insect wing|wings]], and their form, Fabricius used the form of the [[insect mouthparts|mouthparts]] to discriminate the orders (which he termed "classes").<ref name="Tuxen">{{cite journal |author=S. L. Tuxen |year=1967 |title=The entomologist J. C. Fabricius |journal=[[Annual Review of Entomology]] |volume=12 |pages=1–15 |doi=10.1146/annurev.en.12.010167.000245}}</ref> He stated "those whose nourishment and biology are the same, must then belong to the same genus."<ref name="Grimaldi">{{cite book |author=[[David A. Grimaldi]] & [[Michael S. Engel]] |year=2005 |title=Evolution of the insects |series=Volume 1 of Cambridge Evolution Series |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-82149-0 |chapter=Diversity and Evolution |pages=1–41 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ql6Jl6wKb88C&pg=PA19}}</ref> Fabricius' system remains the basis of insect classification today, although the names he proposed are not. For instance, his name for the order containing the [[beetle]]s was "Eleutherata", rather than the modern "[[Coleoptera]]", and he used "Piezata" for [[Hymenoptera]]; his term [[Glossata]] is still in use, but for a slightly smaller group among the [[Lepidoptera]], rather than the whole order. Fabricius also foresaw that the male [[genitalia]] would provide useful characters for [[systematics]], but could not apply that insight himself.<ref name="Grimaldi"/>

Fabricius was the first to divide the [[Staphylinidae]] (rove beetles), which Linnaeus had considered a single genus that he called "''Staphylinus''", establishing in 1775 the genus ''[[Paederus]]''. He also described 77 species of Staphylinidae.<ref name=amnh>{{cite journal|title=Brief history of taxonomic studies of the Staphylinidae including biographical sketches of the investigators |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |author2=Herman, Lee H. |author1=Smetana, Ales. |year=2001 |volume=265 |pages=17–160 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/5826//v3/dspace/updateIngest/pdfs/0053-0066_bios02.pdf?sequence=17 |access-date=28 July 2011}} [Fabricius: pp. 61–62]</ref>

His major works on systematic entomology were:<ref name="Tuxen"/>
*{{lang|la|Systema entomologiae}} (1775)
*{{lang|la|Genera insectorum}} (1776)
*{{lang|la|Species insectorum}} (1781). Full title: {{lang|la|Species insectorum, exhibentes eorum differentias specificas, synonyma auctorum, loca natalia, metamorphosin, adjectis observationibus, descriptionibus}}
*{{lang|la|Mantissa insectorum}} (1787)
*{{lang|la|Entomologia systematica emendata et aucta}} (1792–1799)
*{{lang|la|Systema eleuthatorum}} (1801)
*{{lang|la|Systema rhyngotorum}} (1803)
*{{lang|la|Systema piezatorum}} (1804)
*{{lang|la|Systema antliatorum}} (1805)
*{{lang|la|Systema glossatorum}} (1807)

Many of his works can be found in digital libraries:
* [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/creator/8883#/titles Biodiversity Heritage Library] (24 items<ref name=date20150328/>)
* [http://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Johann+C.+Fabricius%22&gws_rd=ssl#q=inauthor:%22Johann+C.+Fabricius%22&tbm=bks&tbs=bkv:r Google Books] (24 items<ref name=date20150328/>)
* [http://gallica.bnf.fr/Search?p=1&adva=1&adv=1&reset=&urlReferer=%2Fadvancedsearch%3Flang%3DFR&enreg=&tri=&submit1=Lancer+la+recherche&catsel1=f_title&cat1=&ope2=MUST&catsel2=f_creator&cat2=Fabricius%2C+Johann+Christian&ope3=MUST&catsel3=f_tdm&cat3=&date=daTo&daFr=&daTo=&sel_collection=toutesCollections&biblio=Biblioth%C3%A8que+nationale+de+France&sel_source=toutSources&biblioSpecifique=Gallica&sel_provenance_Part=toutPartenaires&sel_provenance_Edist=toutSNE&dateMiseEnLigne=indexDateFrom Gallica] (12 items<ref name=date20150328/>)
* [[HathiTrust]] (1 item<ref name=date20150328/><ref name=chezHathiTrust>''Species insectorum'': [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/ncs1.ark:/13960/t69317z03 vol.&nbsp;1], [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/ncs1.ark:/13960/t61550s72 vol.&nbsp;2]</ref>)

Fabricius' collections are shared between the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]], London, the {{lang|fr|[[Muséum national d'histoire naturelle]]}}, Paris, the [[Hope Department of Entomology]], Oxford, the [[Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery]], Glasgow, the [[Zoological Museum in Kiel]], and the {{lang|da|[[Statens Naturhistoriske Museum]]}}, [[Copenhagen]].<ref name="Sneli">{{cite journal|author=Jon-Arne Sneli, Jørgen Knudsen & Antonia Vedelsby |year=2009 |title=Johan Christian Fabricius and his molluscan species, ''Acesta excavata'' (J. C. Fabricius, 1779) |journal=Steenstrupia |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=153–162 |url=http://zoologi.snm.ku.dk/english/publications/steenstrupia/early_volumes/sneli_et_al2009.pdf/ |format=[[Portable Document Format|PDF]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719125754/http://zoologi.snm.ku.dk/english/publications/steenstrupia/early_volumes/sneli_et_al2009.pdf/ |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}</ref>

Fabricius also wrote a few works on [[economics]], although these are much less important than his zoological works. They include {{Lang|da|Begyndelsesgrundene i de økonomiske Videnskaber}} (1773), {{Lang|de|Polizeischriften}} (1786–1790) and {{lang|de|Von der Volksvermehrung, insonderheit in Dänemark}} (1781).<ref name="Dansk">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://runeberg.org/dbl/5/0026.html |chapter=Johan Christian Fabricius |title=Dansk biografisk leksikon |title-link=Dansk biografisk leksikon |edition=1st |volume=5 |year=1891 |pages=24–30 |publisher=[[Projekt Runeberg]] |language=da}}</ref>

{{botanist|J.Fabr.}}

==References==
{{reflist|2
| refs =
    <ref name=date20150328>Date 28 March 2015.</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
*{{de-ADB|6|521|522|Fabricius, Johann Christian|Henning Ratjen}}
*{{NDB|4|736|737|Fabricius, Johann Christian|Friedrich Hoffmann}}
*[http://www.zmuc.dk/EntoWeb/collections-databaser/Diptera/dipterasites.htm ZMCU Collection contents online]
*[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ Digital version of ''Entomologia systematica, emendata et aucta'']
*Henriksen, Kai L. (1932) Johann Christian Fabricius, pp.&nbsp;76–80 in: Meisen, V. Prominent Danish Scientists through the Ages. University Library of Copenhagen 450th Anniversary. Levin & Munksgaard, Copenhagen.

==External links==
{{Commons-inline}}

{{Wikispecies-inline}}
* [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Johann_Christian_Fabricius Circumscriptional names]
* [http://www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de/zooweb/servlet/AnimalBase/search/references AnimalBase] Comprehensive Fabricius literature and Fabricius taxa list.
* [https://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html ITIS "Taxon authors": list of taxa described by Fabricius]
* {{BHL author|8883}}
* [http://www.eol.org/ ''Encyclopedia of Life''−EOL.org: Taxa described by Fabricius] — '' Type Fabricius into the search box, complete and many supported by images''.]
* [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/75488#page/20/mode/1up An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera London 1858] — ''biography on page XVI gives Fabricius' own account of his travels''.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabricius, Johann Christian}}
[[Category:1745 births]]
[[Category:1808 deaths]]
[[Category:Danish taxonomists]]
[[Category:Dipterists]]
[[Category:Danish lepidopterists]]
[[Category:Danish arachnologists]]
[[Category:Danish carcinologists]]
[[Category:Age of Liberty people]]
[[Category:People from Tønder Municipality]]
[[Category:18th-century Danish zoologists]]
[[Category:19th-century Danish zoologists]]
[[Category:Lamarckism]]
[[Category:Proto-evolutionary biologists]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Kiel]]
[[Category:Danish entomologists]]
[[Category:Cameralists]]
[[Category:Myrmecologists]]
[[Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society]]