John Jonston
Encyclopedia
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
family of the Leszczyński
Leszczynski
Leszczyński , plural: Leszczyńscy is the surname of a Polish noble family. Some Polish surnames have different forms for the genders, Leszczyńska is the form for a female family member.-History:...
s.
Life
Jonston was born in Szamotuły, the son of Simon Johnston, who had emigrated to the Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthPolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Jonston's early education was sponsored by one of his two paternal uncles who had come to the Commonwealth with the father.
From 1611 Jonston attended the school of the Bohemian Brothers in Ostroróg
Ostroróg
Ostroróg is a town in Szamotuły County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 1,993 inhabitants .- History :First mentioned in 1383. City's location before 1412, confirmed by the king , Sigismund I the Old ....
, then the Schoenaichianum in Bytom
Bytom
Bytom is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The central-western district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Bytom is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Bytomka river .The city belongs to the Silesian Voivodeship since...
, and from 1619 the gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
, Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
. As a Calvinist, he could not attend the Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
-controlled Jagiellonian University
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
. Consequently he earned his first degree at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
(1622-25; M.A., 1623), where he studied theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, scholastic philosophy, and the Hebrew language
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
; his sponsors included the Primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....
of All Scotland, John Spottiswood.
In 1625 Jonston returned to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Until 1628 he was a private tutor in the household of the Kurtzbach-Zawadski family in Leszno
Leszno
Leszno is a town in central Poland with 63,955 inhabitants . Situated in the southern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999, it was previously the capital of the Leszno Voivodeship . The town has county status.-History:...
, where he was an active member of the Czech Brethren community. Around 1625-28 he published Enchiridion historiae naturalis, which in 1657 would be translated into English.
In 1628 Jonston traveled to the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
(Wittenberg
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
, Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Franeker
Franeker
Franeker is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Franekeradeel. It is located about 20 km west of Leeuwarden on the Van Harinxma Canal. As of 1 January 2006, it had 12,996 inhabitants. The city is famous for the Eisinga Planetarium from around...
) to resume his studies. He attended the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
(where he studied botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
) and the Universities of Frankfurt, Franeker
Franeker
Franeker is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Franekeradeel. It is located about 20 km west of Leeuwarden on the Van Harinxma Canal. As of 1 January 2006, it had 12,996 inhabitants. The city is famous for the Eisinga Planetarium from around...
and Leiden, matriculating
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
in 1630. That year he was offered a chair of philosophy at Deventer
Deventer
Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. Deventer is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen Deventer is a municipality and city in...
but declined it, preferring to return to the Commonwealth to become once again a private tutor, this time in the mansion of voivode Rafał Leszczyński, voivode of Bielsk
Bielsk
Bielsk may refer to the following places:*Bielsk, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship *Bielsk, Masovian Voivodeship *Bielsk Podlaski in Podlaskie Voivodeship...
, where he tutored his son, Bogusław Leszczyński.
In 1632 Jonston traveled abroad with Bogusław and several other Commonwealth magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
s' sons. Their first stop was Franeker
Franeker
Franeker is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Franekeradeel. It is located about 20 km west of Leeuwarden on the Van Harinxma Canal. As of 1 January 2006, it had 12,996 inhabitants. The city is famous for the Eisinga Planetarium from around...
(1632), followed by Leiden and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
(all, that same year), where Jonston published his Thautomatographia naturalis. In 1634 they visited England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, returning to Leiden, where Jonston received an M.D. degree; soon afterward he would receive a second M.D. degree (ad eundem) from Cambridge. That year he also received a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from both those universities, for his dissertation De febribus (On Fever
Fever
Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...
s). Bogusław, Jonston and the others toured Europe until 1636, returning to Poland upon news of Bogusław's father's death. Jonston returned to Leszno, remaining a Leszczyński's retainer, in whose service he had the title of Archiater et Civitatis Lesnensis Physicus Ordinarius.
In Leszno he was employed at the Leszno Academy, where he was a friend of Comenius
Comenius
John Amos Comenius ; ; Latinized: Iohannes Amos Comenius) was a Czech teacher, educator, and writer. He served as the last bishop of Unity of the Brethren, and became a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica...
, who was another important member of the Academy's faculty. In 1642 Jonston once again turned down an offer to chair a department abroad (this time, that of medicine at Frankfurt). That same year, his Idea universae medicinae practicae was published in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
(it would be translated into English in 1652). Jonston would turn down further offers from Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
and Leiden.
In 1652 he purchased (or inherited) an estate at Ziebendorf (now Składowice) near Legnica
Legnica
Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...
. In 1665, following the Polish-Swedish War (The Deluge
The Deluge (Polish history)
The term Deluge denotes a series of mid-17th century campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, thus comprising the Polish–Lithuanian theaters of the Russo-Polish and...
), which worsened public attitudes toward the Commonwealth's Protestants, he retired from Leszno to his newly bought estate. He remained there for the reminder of his life.
He died at Legnica
Legnica
Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...
around 1675.
Works
- Historiae naturalis de quadrupedibus libri, cum aeneis figuris, Johannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit (J. J. Schipperi, Amsterdam, 1657).
- Historiae naturalis de insectis libri II, de serpentibus et draconibus libri II, cum aeneis figuris, Joh. Jonstonus,... concinnavit (Ad Moenum 1653; reissued J. J. fil. Schipper, Amsterdam, 1657, reissued 1665).
- Historiae naturalis de insectis libri III, de serpentibus et draconibus libri II, cum aeneis figuris, Joh. Jonstonus,... concinnavit (deux parties en un volume, J. J. fil. Schipper, Amsterdam, 1657, reissued 1667).
- Historiae naturalis de exanguibus aquaticis libri IV, cum figuris aeneis, Joannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit (J. J. Schipperi, Amsterdam, 1657, reissued 1665).
- Historiae naturalis de piscibus et cetis libri V, cum aeneis figuris, Johannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit (J. J. Schipperi, Amsterdam, 1657).
- Historiae naturalis de avibus libri VI cum aeneis figuris Johannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit (J. J. Schipperi, Amsterdam, 1657).
- De Communione veteris Ecclesiae syntagma, ex bibliotheca Johannis Jonstoni,... (Elsevir, Amsterdam, 1658).
- Johannis Jonstonii,... de Festis Hebraeorum et Graecorum schediasma (V.J. Trescheri, Bratislava, 1660).
- Magni Hippocratis,... Coacae praenotiones, graece et latine... cum versione D. Anutii Foesii,... et notis Joh. Jonstoni,... (Elsevir, Amsterdam, 1660).
- Idea hygieines recensita, libri II. Johannes Jonstonus,... cum cura revidit (V.J. Trescheri, Jena, 1661, reissued 1667).
- Notitia regni mineralis, seu Subterraneorum catalogus, cum praecipuis differentiis (V.J. Trescheri, Leipzig, 1661).
- Notitia regni vegetabilis, seu Plantarum a veteribus observatarum... in suas classes redacta series (V.J. Trescheri, Leipzig, 1661).
- Dendrographias, sive historiae naturalis de arboribus et fructicibus, tam nostri quam peregrini orbis, libri decem, figuris aeneis adornati, Johannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit... (M. Meriani, Frankfurt, 1662).
- Historiae naturalis de serpentibus, libri II, Joannes Jonstonus,... concinnavit (J. J. Schipperi, Amsterdam, 1667).
- A Description of the Nature of Four-footed Beasts (London, 1678). An English translation of Historiae naturalis de quadripedibus, with 80 engraved illustrations.http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/HistSciTech.Jonstonus
- Theatrum universale omnium animalium, piscium, avium, quadrupedum, exanguium aquaticorum, insectorum et angium (R. & G. Weststenios, Amsterdam, 1718).
See also
- List of Poles
- History of philosophy in Poland
External links
- bio at Galileo Project, accessed on February 24, 2006
- Plates from Historiae naturalis de insectis " Spanish text