Maria Merian
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Maria Sybilla Merian (1647 - 1717)

Maria Sybilla Merian
Born in Frankfurt am Main, Heiliges Römisches Reichmap
Ancestors ancestors
Sister of [half]
Wife of — married 16 May 1665 (to 1692) [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at age 69 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Nederlandmap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: Samuel Zschokke private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 15 Dec 2016
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Notables Project
Maria Merian is Notable.

Biographie

Maria Merian has German Roots.

Maria Sibylla Merian war eine Naturforscherin und Künstlerin. Sie gehört zur jüngeren Frankfurter Linie der Basler Familie Merian und wuchs in Frankfurt am Main auf.
Bis 1670 lebte sie in Frankfurt am Main, danach in Nürnberg, Amsterdam und Westfriesland. Durch den Gouverneur der niederländischen Kolonie Surinam, Cornelis van Sommelsdijk, wurde sie angeregt, ab 1699 eine zweijährige Reise in diesen südamerikanischen Küstenstaat zu unternehmen. Nach Europa zurückgekehrt, publizierte Maria Sibylla Merian ihr Hauptwerk Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, das sie berühmt machte.
Wegen ihrer genauen Beobachtungen und Darstellungen zur Metamorphose der Schmetterlinge gilt sie als wichtige Wegbereiterin der modernen Insektenkunde (Entomologie).[1]

Biography (English Highlights)

  • born into a family of artists & publishers
  • tutored by step-father, the noted artist Jacob Marrel, or his pupils[2]
  • May 1665 m. Johann Andreas Graff, a student of her step-father[2][3]
  • studied and painted the life cycle of silkworms - studied them alive and throughout their transformation (unlike other artists of her time)
  • "Merian was the first science illustrator to record the relationships between insects and the plants they lived on, which is critical for understanding food chains."[4]
  • Published volumes on insects with incredible detail both in the pictures and in decription, received well
  • Proved that insects hatched from eggs
  • Her journals during her time in Suriname are some of the earliest accounts of the ecology and society there[4]
  • 1705 "Insects of Suriname"
  • Her illustrations are still used by scientists studying & classifying insects today

Quellen / Sources

  1. Wikipedia Eintrag über Maria Sybilla Merian https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Sibylla_Merian
  2. 2.0 2.1 Wikipedia: Maria Sibylla Merian, accessed 27 Sept 2017
  3. "Maria Sibylla Merian." Stuff You Missed in History Class (Podcast). 31 May 2017. HowStuffWorks.com (web). Retrieved 27 Sept 2017
  4. 4.0 4.1 "7 Science Illustrators You Should Know." SciShow. 26 March 2017. YouTube (Web), accessed 27 March 2017

See also:





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Comments: 2

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I'm enjoying a 2018 illustrated biography of Maria Merian by Joyce Sidman. It's titled "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies" and contains well-documented quotes from Maria and an excellent bibliography. Thank you, Samuel, for this fine profile.
posted by Jane (Snell) Copes
I just found this article https://theconversation.com/hidden-women-of-history-maria-sibylla-merian-17th-century-entomologist-and-scientific-adventurer-112057?fbclid=IwAR1BW6R6cTvwhmNpaR5ynSr82GKKdwzKS_xjC4NmT4nnJwmqfpn2sQf10SU and decided to see if she was on wikitree and she was. Thank you for adding this amazing woman to the tree!

I have added the German Roots sticker to her profile, I hope you do not mind. :)

Kylie Project Coordinator, German Roots

posted by Kylie Haese

M  >  Merian  >  Maria Sybilla Merian

Categories: Germany, Notables | Notables | German Roots