Paul Hermann
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Paul Hermann (1646—1695), German born botanist that made the Leiden Botanical Garden in Holland famous. Born in Halle (Germany), he was the son of Johann Hermann, a well-known organist, and Maria Magdalena Röber, a clergyman's daughter. After graduating from Europe's finest medical school, Padua, he was then engaged by the Dutch East India Company and Went to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) as a Ship's Medical Officer. He was in their employ from 1672—1677. During his stay there, he made a scientific collection of this island's plants and other organisms. He was then offered the job at Leiden and took up the Chair of Botany at the University of Leiden in 1679 where he spent the rest of his professional life. He immediately set to making it the finest botanical garden in Europe.
His Paradisus batavus, a description of the plants of the Leyden university botanical garden, was published three years after his death in 1698 and edited by William Sherard (1659—1728) Sherard edited his notes and solicited patronage for the publication of this important book. They were students together in Paris of Tournefort in 1688. Later Sherard collected more of his notes and produced a catalogue published as Musaeum Zeylanicum (1717, 2nd edn.: 1727). Hermann's original Ceylon collection was used by Carolus Linnaeus when he wrote his Flora Zeylanica (1747) and Species plantarum (1753). After Hermann's collections had passed through many hands, they were eventually purchased by Sir Joseph Banks. Now they are kept at the British Museum (Natural History). Hermann was a very good botanical illustrator and had an excellent botanical grasp as declared by Linnaeus himself.
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