1828-1898

German Botanist and Bacteriologist

Ferdinand Julius Cohn, a German botanist, is recognized today as a founder of bacteriology. He was adept at observing and describing the life cycles of microorganisms. This talent led him, in the 1870s, to construct the first classification system for bacteria.

Cohn was the first of four sons born to Isaac and Amalie (Nissen) Cohn in Breslau, Lower Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland). His parents lived in Breslau's Jewish ghetto with few financial means until they set up a business selling rapeseed oil for lamps.

Cohn was a precocious child who learned to read by the age of two and began to study natural history at the age of four. He studied at the School of Master Weber from the age of four until six, then entered the Gymnasium of St. Maria Magdelena in 1835. He advanced steadily until the age...