Jonathan Carl Zenker

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Jonathan Carl Zenker (also Karl) was a German naturalist born on 1 March 1799 in Sundremda, in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district. He started studying theology at the University of Jena but later turned to science and medicine. From 1823 he lived in Dresden and then returned to Jena, where his dissertation Batrachomyologia helped him become a privat-docent (private lecturer) of natural history. In 1828 he was named an associate professor of botany and natural history, and in 1836 he became a full professor. He died on 6 November 1837 at the age of 38. A grass genus, Zenkeria, was named in his honor, and he named the fossil broad-leaf tree genus Credneria in honor of Karl August Credner. The standard author abbreviation Zenker is used when citing botanical names.