Template:Distinguished author 2015-12

Johan Christian Fabricius
(1745–1808)

A Danish zoologist, specialising in entomology. He was a student of Carolus Linnaeus in Uppsala (Sweden), and then appointed a professor at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) as well as the University of Kiel (officially Germany, but ruled by the Danish king through a personal union). Fabricius is considered one of the most important entomologists of the 18th century, having named 9,776 species of animals, and established the basis for the modern insect classification. He added two distinct areas to the classification system: both artificial and natural characteristics. Artificial characteristics allowed for the determination of a species, and natural characteristics for the relationship to other genera and varieties. Much of his system still remains the basis of modern insect classification. Towards the end of his career Fabricius spent much of his time living in Paris, where he frequently met with naturalists such as Georges Cuvier and Pierre André Latreille.