Brunfels, Otto

Otto Brunfels, (born c. 1488, Mainz [Germany]—died Nov. 23, 1534, Bern, Switz.), botanist, considered by Carolus Linnaeus to be one of the founders of modern botany.

Brunfels entered the Carthusian monastery in Strassburg in 1514 as a priest of the austere religious order. He remained until 1521, when, becoming acquainted with humanists, he fled the monastery. He was then a pastor in Steinau for three years and in 1524 opened a school in Strassburg. In 1532 he became town physician in Bern, where he remained until his death. His works include the two volumes of Herbarum vivae eicones (1530–40; “Living Pictures of Herbs”); the text is a collection of old and new commentaries on plants, with little lasting scientific value other than records of medieval properties. The drawings are detailed, accurate, and realistic; this work helped move botany away from medieval herbalism, with its tradition of folklore, toward its emergence as a modern science. Later botanical illustrators influenced by Brunfels’ work strove to achieve greater accuracy.