Biography

Born in the Czech town of Kanitz, botanist Johann Pohl spent most of his life in Prague and Vienna, and is most remembered for his work on the flora of Brazil. He spent his early years in the Bohemian town of Politz with his uncle, a town official and amateur botanist who encouraged the hobby in Pohl. He went on to study philosophy at the University of Prague, though he graduated as a doctor of medicine in 1808 after changing subjects. During his studies, he continued to make botanical field trips, encouraged by his uncle, and began to publish work in journals. He built up his own herbarium and was elected to the Regensburg Botanical Society.

After graduation, Pohl first worked as a teacher and then in a military hospital, after which he helped to establish a charitable hospital in Prague. From 1811 to 1817, he taught botany at the city's Canalschen Garten, during which time he made a name for himself as one of Bohemia's foremost botanists. In recognition of this, he was invited to join the Austrian Expedition to Brazil, which followed the Austrian Archduchess Leopoldine to Brazil for her marriage to Dom Pedro, future Emperor of Brazil. The aim of the expedition was to carry out a comprehensive study of the country's flora, fauna, resources and culture, and other botanists taking part included C.F.P. van Martius (1794-1868), J.C. Mikan (1769-1844), G. Raddi (1770-1829) and H.W. Schott (1794-1865).

Pohl sailed to Brazil on a warship with Giuseppe Raddi, arriving in Brazil on 7 November 1817. Over the next four years, he travelled through Minas Gerais, Goiás, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, and on at least 30 of the country's rivers. In addition to accumulating thousands of plant specimens, he also investigated the land's minerals and zoology, exploring gold and diamond mines, caves and native villages. His endeavours took their toll on his health, however, and he returned home from Brazil a sick man in late 1821. Nevertheless, he was appointed curator at the Vienna Natural History Museum and the Vienna Brazilian Museum (built upon the collections brought back from the expedition). His published works include Reise im Innern von Brasilien (Travels into the Interior of Brazil, two volumes, 1832 and 1837) and the Plantarum Brasiliae icones et descriptions, (also two volumes, 1826-1828 and 1828-1833).