Biography

German doctor who was educated at the universities of Göttingen, Heidelberg, and Berlin. He left Germany for health reasons and settled in Hawai (1851-1871). He was the founding physician of Queen's Hospital in Honolulu and also appointed Minister of Immigration. Hillebrand worked extensively on the Hawaiian flora, collected most of his plant specimens here, and founded the Botanical Gardens in Honolulu. In 1865-1866 he was a Commissioner of Immigration for the Hawaiian Government to the East Indies and China, during which he also collected plant material, though without detailed dates or localities. He eventually returned to Europe in 1871 and participated in a German expedition to Madeira (1871) where he saw that the vineyards there were suffering from a grape blight leaving rhousands of workers unemployed. Hillebrand suggested bringing them to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations and was also responsible for bringing many German families to the islands around this time. He spent several years in Madeira and the Canary Islands during which time he also collected plants. Duplicate Hillebrand material was distributed as Reliquae Hillebrandianae. Much of his original material deposited at B was destroyed during the Second World War, though his pteridophyte collections survived. He is commemorated mainly by Hawaiian taxa including Embelia hillebrandii Mez, Isodendrion hillebrandii H. St. John and Suttonia hillebrandii Mez (= Rapanea hillebrandii (Mez) O. Deg. & Hosaka).

Biography

German doctor who was educated at the universities of Göttingen, Heidelberg, and Berlin. He left Germany for health reasons and settled in Hawai (1851-1871). He was the founding physician of Queen's Hospital in Honolulu and also appointed Minister of Immigration. Hillebrand worked extensively on the Hawaiian flora, collected most of his plant specimens here, and founded the Botanical Gardens in Honolulu. In 1865-1866 he was a Commissioner of Immigration for the Hawaiian Government to the East Indies and China, during which he also collected plant material, though without detailed dates or localities. He eventually returned to Europe in 1871 and participated in a German expedition to Madeira (1871) where he saw that the vineyards there were suffering from a grape blight leaving rhousands of workers unemployed. Hillebrand suggested bringing them to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations and was also responsible for bringing many German families to the islands around this time. He spent several years in Madeira and the Canary Islands during which time he also collected plants. Duplicate Hillebrand material was distributed as Reliquae Hillebrandianae. Much of his original material deposited at B was destroyed during the Second World War, though his pteridophyte collections survived. He is commemorated mainly by Hawaiian taxa including Embelia hillebrandii Mez, Isodendrion hillebrandii H. St. John and Suttonia hillebrandii Mez (= Rapanea hillebrandii (Mez) O. Deg. & Hosaka).