Eugenius Warming

Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming (3 November 1841 – 2 April 1924), known as Eugen Warming, was a Danish botanist and a pioneering figure in the development of ecology. In 1895 Warming published Plantesamfund, often regarded as the first textbook (1895) on plant ecology, and he taught an early university course in ecology. Scholar R. J. Goodland wrote in 1975: “If one individual can be singled out to be honoured as the founder of ecology, Warming should gain precedence”.

Warming wrote a number of textbooks on botany, plant geography and ecology, which were widely read and translated to several languages. Notable works include Plantesamfund and Haandbog i den systematiske Botanik.

Warming was born on the small Wadden Sea island of Mandø as the only child of Jens Warming (1797–1844), parish minister, and Anna Marie von Bülow af Plüskow (1801–1863). After the early death of his father, he moved with his mother to her brother in Vejle in eastern Jutland.

He married Johanne Margrethe Jespersen (known as Hanne Warming; 1850–1922) on 10 November 1871. They had eight children: Marie (1872–1947) married C.V. Prytz, Jens Warming (1873–1939), who became a professor in economy and statistics at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Fro (1875–1880), Povl (1877–1878), Svend Warming (1879–1982), engineer at Burmeister & Wain shipyard, Inge (1879–1893), Johannes (1882–1970), farmer, and Louise (1884–1964). External link: Ancestors and descendents

He attended high school at Ribe Katedralskole and commenced 1859 studies of natural history at the University of Copenhagen, but left university for three and a half years (1863–1866) to act as secretary for the Danish palaeontologist Peter Wilhelm Lund, who lived and worked in Lagoa Santa, Brazil. After his return to Europe, he studied for a year under K.F.P. Martius, Carl Nägeli and Ludwig Radlkofer in Munich and, in 1871, under J.L. von Hanstein in Bonn. Later in the same year (1871), he defended his Doctor of Philosophy thesis at Copenhagen.

The professorship in botany at the University of Copenhagen became vacant with the death of A.S. Ørsted and Warming was a candidate for the succession. However, he was passed over and the chair given to the older, but much less productive and original Ferdinand Didrichsen. Warming then became docent of botany at the University of Copenhagen, the polytechnic (Polyteknisk Læreanstalt) and the Pharmaceutical College 1873–1882. He became professor in botany at Stockholms högskola (later Stockholm University) 1882–1885. As the eldest professor, he was elected rector magnificus. In 1885, he became professor in botany at the University of Copenhagen and director of the Copenhagen Botanical Garden and held these positions until his retirement on 31 December 1910. He was rector magnificus of the University of Copenhagen 1907–1908.

He was a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters from 1878 to his death. As such, he served on the board of directors of the Carlsberg Foundation 1889-1921 and, because a biologist, on the board of the Carlsberg Laboratory. He also served on the board of the Geological Survey of Denmark 1895–1917.

Eugen Warming was a frequent visitor to foreign universities, e.g. a travel to Strasbourg and Paris in 1876 and another to Göttingen, Jena, Bonn, Strasbourg and Paris in 1880. He participated in several Scandinavian Scientist Conferences between 1868 and 1916 and in the similar German meeting in Breslau in 1874. He joined the International Botanical Congresses in Amsterdam 1877, in Vienna 1905 and in Brussels 1910 and was president of the ‘Association internationale des botanistes‘ (1913). He attended the Linnaeus celebration in Uppsala 1907 and the Darwin celebration in London 1908. He was honorary fellow of the Royal Society in London, was elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1885 and honorary member of the Danish Botanical Society. He was a corresponding member of the botanical section of the French Academy of Sciences. He was made Commander 1st Degree of the Order of the Dannebrog, Commander of the Royal Victorian Order and the Brazilian Imperial Order of the Rose. He is buried in Assistants Cemetery in Copenhagen.