Anton Kerner von Marilaun (1831‒1898)

No school of thought has ever before influenced and indeed transformed 19th century biology so radically as Darwin’s Theory of Evolution or Common Descent. There have been some natural scientists who drew particular inspiration and direction from the natural environment into which they were born and where they had grown up, and equally from the places in which they were active later on in their life, who identified with Darwin’s new doctrine. Among the first of these scientists in search of the "Truth" was Anton Kerner who was born on 12 November 1831 in Mautern (Lower Austria). In 1860 Kerner was appointed full professor of Natural History at the University of Innsbruck. At the same time he took over the management of the Museum of Natural History and the Botanical Garden, also located in Innsbruck. In 1877 he was made a peer and knighted. In 1878 he was offered the chair for Botany and the management of the University of Vienna’s Botanical Garden and Museum. On the occasion of his 60th birthday his most noteworthy scientific work, “Das Pflanzenleben” (Plant Life) was published, It can be regarded as a counterpart to Brehms "Tierleben" (Animal Life) and was highly regarded both in Austria and abroad. Kerner, who died in Vienna on 21 June 1898, distinguished himself not only as an extraordinary scientific-poetic writer but also by his extensive lecturing activities.