Franz Unger

<h2 id="life-and-work">Life and work</h2>
<p>Initially, Unger studied law at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Graz/jnUvU22r">University of Graz</a>. In 1820 he moved to <a href="/facts/University_of_Vienna/sc4vUUe8">Vienna</a> to study medicine, in 1822 he enrolled at the <a href="/facts/Charles_University_in_Prague/auLIgrty">Charles University in Prague</a>. In 1823 Unger returned to Vienna and completed his medical studies in 1827.
</p><p>From 1827 Unger practiced as a doctor in <a href="/facts/Stockerau/4Ah02IWz">Stockerau</a> near Vienna, then from 1830 as a court physician in <a href="/facts/Kitzb%25C3%25BChel/s360Hv3d">Kitzbühel</a>, <a href="/facts/County_of_Tyrol/1XWR7rbz">Tyrol</a>. In 1836 he was named professor of botany at the University of Graz and also taught at the Joanneum (which became the <a href="/facts/Universalmuseum_Joanneum/BB8KPu6X">Universalmuseum Joanneum</a> and the <a href="/facts/Graz_University_of_Technology/XS0Kwga5">Graz University of Technology</a>); in 1850 professor of plant physiology in Vienna. In 1852 he travelled to Northern Europe and to the <a href="/facts/The_Orient/uPK9os02">Orient</a>. Unger retired in 1866 and lived on his farm near Graz.
</p><p>Unger was one of the major contributors to the field of <a href="/facts/Paleontology/60n5yldd">paleontology</a>, later turning to <a href="/facts/Plant_physiology/zAh2o1Ao">plant physiology</a> and <a href="/facts/Phytotomy/JXMPxsda">phytotomy</a>. He hypothesized that (then unknown) combinations of simple elements inside a <a href="/facts/Plant_cell/T4RqyI2f">plant cell</a> determine plant heredity  and greatly influenced the experiments of his student <a href="/facts/Gregor_Johann_Mendel/4UpILWAz">Gregor Johann Mendel</a>. Unger was a pioneer <a href="/facts/History_of_Soil_Science/SmJyJ2B3">in documenting the relationships between soil and plants</a> (1836).
</p><p>Unger is notable for proposing a theory of evolution before <a href="/facts/Charles_Darwin/uwDLGItY">Charles Darwin</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> Unger accepted the <a href="/facts/Transmutation_of_species/aoHxUErV">transmutation of species</a>. During his time his ideas were widely criticized by those who held religious views.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> In his book <i>Attempt of a History of the Plant World</i> (1852) he devoted a chapter to the evolution of plants.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="works">Works</h2>
<ul><li>Über den Einfluß des Bodens auf die Verteilung der Gewächse. 1836.</li>
<li>Über den Bau und das Wachstum des Dikotyledonenstamms. 1840.</li>
<li>Über Kristallbildungen in den Pflanzenzellen. 1840.</li>
<li>Grundzüge der Anatomie und Physiologie der Pflanzen. 1846.</li>
<li>Anatomie und Physiologie der Pflanzen. 1855.</li>
<li>Grundlinien der Anatomie und Physiologie der Pflanzen. 1866.</li>
<li>Synopsis plan tarum fossilium. 1845.</li>
<li>Chloris protogaea, Beiträge zur Flora der Vorwelt. 1841–1847.</li>
<li>Genera et species plantarum fossilium. 1850.</li>
<li>Iconographia plantarum fossilium. 1852.</li>
<li>Sylloge plantarum fossilium. 1860.</li>
<li>Die Urwelt in ihren verschiedenen Bildungsperioden. 1851, 3rd edition 1864. (With some of the earliest drawings of prehistoric animals.)</li>
<li>Versuch einer Geschichte der Pflanzenwelt. 1852.</li>
<li>Geologie der europäischen Waldbäume. 1870.</li>
<li>Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse einer Reise in Griechenland und den Ionischen Inseln. 1862.</li>
<li>Die Insel Cypern. 1865.</li>
<li>Botanische Briefe. 1852.</li>
<li>Botanische Streifzüge auf dem Gebiet der Kulturgeschichte.</li></ul>

<h2 id="sources">Sources</h2>

<ul><li>"Dr. Franz Unger", Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Oct., 1870), pp. 227–232. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3024835">JSTOR link</a></li>
<li>German Wikipedia article lists several German language sources.</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.biographien.ac.at/oebl/oebl_U/Unger_Franz_1800_1870.xml">"Unger, Franz (1800–1870), Naturwissenschaftler und Mediziner"</a> (in German). Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon und Biographische Dokumentation. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1553%2F0x00341e46">10.1553/0x00341e46</a>. Retrieved 4 December 2023.</li>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22Unger%2C%20Franz%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Franz%20Unger%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Unger%2C%20Franz%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Franz%20Unger%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Franz%20Unger%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Unger%2C%20Franz%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Franz%20Unger%22%29%20OR%20%28%221800-1870%22%20AND%20Unger%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29">Works by or about Franz Unger</a> at the <a href="/facts/Internet_Archive/PHStU8Lo">Internet Archive</a></li>
<li><a href="http://aeiou.iicm.tugraz.at/aeiou.encyclop.u/u459119.htm">Short biography</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080305050315/http://aeiou.iicm.tugraz.at/aeiou.encyclop.u/u459119.htm">Archived</a> 2008-03-05 at the <a href="/facts/Wayback_Machine/nmQ3a6JC">Wayback Machine</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Gliboff, Sander (1998). "Evolution, Revolution, and Reform in Vienna: Franz Unger's Ideas on Descent and Their Post-1848 Reception". Journal of the History of Biology. 31 (2): 179–209. doi:10.1023/A:1004379402154. ISSN 0022-5010. JSTOR 4331477. S2CID 81254307. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4331477" target="_blank">https://www.jstor.org/stable/4331477</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Gliboff, Sander. (1998). Evolution, Revolution, and Reform in Vienna: Franz Unger's Ideas on Descent and Their Post-1848 Reception. Journal of the History of Biology 31: 179-209. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Ruse, Michael; Travis, Joseph. (2009). Evolution: The First Four Billion Years. Belknap Press. p. 729. ISBN 978-0674062214 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Mayr, Ernst (1982). The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance. Cambridge, MA and London, England: Belknap Press. p. 390-391. ISBN 978-0674364462 – via Internet Archive. <a href="978-0674364462" target="_blank">978-0674364462</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Franz Unger open-in-new

Franz Unger