Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold was a German physician, botanist, and traveler. He taught some pupils Western medicine in Japan. He achieved prominence for his study of Japanese flora and fauna, and was the father of female Japanese doctor, Kusumoto Ine.

Invited to Holland by an acquaintance of the family, von Siebold applied for a position as a military physician. This position would enable him to travel to the Dutch colonies. He entered Dutch military service on June 19, 1822. He was appointed ship's physician on the frigate Adriana on the voyage from Rotterdam to Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). On his trip to Batavia on the frigate Adriana, he practiced his knowledge of the Dutch language and rapidly learned Malay, and during the long trip, Von Siebold started a collection of marine fauna. He arrived in Batavia on February 18, 1823.

Von Siebold was sent to Dejima, the artificial island next to Nagasaki, on June 28, 1823, and arrived on August 11, 1823 as the new resident physician and scientist. During his eventful trip he barely escaped drowning during a typhoon in the East China Sea. Since only a very limited number of Dutch citizens were allowed on this island, the posts of physician and scientist had to be combined. At that time, Dejima was no longer in the possession of the Dutch East Indian Company VOC (which had gone bankrupt in 1798), but was kept running by the Dutch State for political considerations.

The European tradition of sending doctors with botanical training to Japan was a long one. Sent on a mission by the Dutch East India Company, Engelbert Kaempfer (1651–1716), a German physician and botanist who lived in Japan from 1690 until 1692, ushered in this tradition of a combination of physician and botanist. The Dutch East India Company did not, however, actually employ the Swedish botanist and physician Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828), who arrived in Japan in 1775.

Japanese scientists invited von Siebold to show them the marvels of western science, and he learned in return through them much about the Japanese and their customs. After curing an influential local officer, von Siebold gained the permission to leave the trade post. He used this opportunity to treat Japanese patients in the greater area around the trade post. Siebold is credited with the introduction of vaccination and pathological anatomy for the first time in Japan.... More • http://en.wikipedia. ... on_Siebold View • Books • Images • Videos • Search Related • Botanists • Explorers • Soldiers • 1820s • 1830s • Aquarius • Botany • East Indies • Exploration • Fauna • February 17 • Flora • Germany • Indonesia • Industrial Revolution • Japan • Naturalists • Netherlands • Physicians • 19th Century • People