Conrad Gessner
Swiss physician, bibliographer and naturalist (1516-1565) · Switzerland · Doctors · Died at 49
Conrad Gessner is read about 111 times a day, in 55 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 8 October 2026
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Something wrong?He tried to catalog everything - every book written, every animal known, every plant that grew. In 16th-century Zurich, Conrad Gessner built encyclopedic works so systematic they founded modern bibliography and zoology, then died of plague at 49 with his botanical opus unfinished.
Also in Deutsch
Photos 8
Conrad Gesner by Tobias Stimmer2
1561 Gesner Tulip
A rhinoceros. Woodcut after C. Gessner. Wellcome V0021201
Bálna Gessner
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Conr. Gesneri Tigurini medicinæ et philosophiae professoris in Schola Tigurina, Historiæ animalium liber II - qui est de quadrupedibus ouiparis (1586) (20655341356)ner_Wolverine_Vielfra%C3%9F_Mark_Benecke_printed_in_Heidelberg_year_1606.jpg?width=1200)
Conrad Ges(s)ner Wolverine Vielfraß Mark Benecke printed in Heidelberg year 1606
Conrad Gesner - Conradi Gesneri Historia plantarum WalderbeereAbout this person
Born poor in Zurich in 1516, Gessner's intellectual gifts were spotted early; his father and teachers pushed him through university to study languages, theology, and medicine. He became the city physician but spent his hours amassing knowledge: his Bibliotheca universalis (1545-1549) attempted to list every book ever written, his Historia animalium (1551-1558) did the same for the animal kingdom. He was often the first in Europe to describe a species in print - the tulip in 1559, among others. He was deep into a massive botanical text when plague took him on 13 December 1565, at 49. Plants and animals still carry his name.
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