Jan Ingenhousz
Dutch physiologist and chemist (1730–1799)
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Key Takeaways
- Jan Ingenhousz (8 December 1730 – 7 September 1799) was a Dutch-British physiologist, biologist and chemist.
- He also discovered that plants, like animals, have cellular respiration.
- Early life He was born into the patrician Ingen Housz family in Breda in Staats-Brabant in the Dutch Republic.
- He studied for two more years at the University of Leiden, where he attended lectures by, among others, Pieter van Musschenbroek, which led Ingenhousz to have a lifelong interest in electricity.
Jan Ingenhousz (8 December 1730 – 7 September 1799) was a Dutch-British physiologist, biologist and chemist.
He is best known for discovering photosynthesis by showing that light is essential to the process by which green plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. He also discovered that plants, like animals, have cellular respiration. In his lifetime he was known for successfully inoculating the members of the Habsburg family in Vienna against smallpox in 1768 and subsequently being the private counsellor and personal physician to the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa.
Early life
He was born into the patrician Ingen Housz family in Breda in Staats-Brabant in the Dutch Republic. From the age of 16, Ingenhousz studied medicine at the University of Leuven, as the Protestant Universities were not then open to Catholics like himself, where he obtained his MD in 1753. He studied for two more years at the University of Leiden, where he attended lectures by, among others, Pieter van Musschenbroek, which led Ingenhousz to have a lifelong interest in electricity. In 1755 he returned home to Breda, where he started a general medical practice.
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