| J. F. Gmelin | |
| Birth Date: | 8 August 1748 |
| Birth Place: | Tübingen, Holy Roman Empire |
| Death Place: | Göttingen, Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
| Father: | Philipp Friedrich Gmelin |
| Citizenship: | German |
| Thesis Title: | Latin: Irritabilitatem vegetabilium, in singulis plantarum partibus exploratam ulterioribusque experimentis confirmatam |
| Workplaces: | University of Göttingen University of Tübingen |
| Alma Mater: | University of Tübingen |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Philipp Friedrich Gmelin Ferdinand Christoph Oetinger |
| Doctoral Students: | Georg Friedrich Hildebrandt Friedrich Stromeyer Carl Friedrich Kielmeyer Wilhelm August Lampadius Vasily Severgin |
| Known For: | Textbooks on chemistry, pharmaceutical science, mineralogy, and botany |
| Author Abbrev Bot: | J.F.Gmel. |
| Author Abbrev Zoo: | Gmelin |
| Spouse: | Rosine Louise Gmelin (1755–1828, née Schott) |
| Relatives: | Leopold Gmelin (son) |
Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German naturalist, chemist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist.
Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp Friedrich Gmelin in 1748 in Tübingen. He studied medicine under his father[1] at University of Tübingen and graduated with a Master's degree in 1768, with a thesis entitled: Latin: Irritabilitatem vegetabilium, in singulis plantarum partibus exploratam ulterioribusque experimentis confirmatam, defended under the presidency of Ferdinand Christoph Oetinger,[2] whom he thanks with the words Latin: Patrono et praeceptore in aeternum pie devenerando, pro summis in medicina obtinendis honoribus.
In 1769, Gmelin became an adjunct professor of medicine at University of Tübingen. In 1773, he became professor of philosophy and adjunct professor of medicine at University of Göttingen. He was promoted to full professor of medicine and professor of chemistry, botany, and mineralogy in 1778. He died in 1804 in Göttingen and is buried there in the Albani cemetery with his wife Rosine Louise Gmelin (1755–1828, née Schott).
Johann Friedrich Gmelin when young became an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus, probably when Linnaeus was working in the Netherlands, and undertook a plant-collecting expedition to "Persia" on his behalf.[3] [4] Later in life he published several textbooks in the fields of chemistry, pharmaceutical science, mineralogy, and botany. He also edited and published the posthumous 13th edition of Systema Naturae by Carl Linnaeus from 1788 to 1793. This contained descriptions and scientific names of many new species, including birds that had earlier been catalogued without a scientific name by John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. Gmelin's publication is cited as the authority for over 290 bird species[5] and also a number of butterfly species.[6]
Among his students were Georg Friedrich Hildebrandt, Carl Friedrich Kielmeyer, Friedrich Stromeyer, and Wilhelm August Lampadius. He was the father of Leopold Gmelin.
He described the redfin pickerel in 1789. In the scientific field of herpetology, he described many new species of amphibians and reptiles.[7] In the field of malacology, he described and named many species of gastropods.
The plant genus Gmelina was named after J.F. Gmelin (or possibly J.G. Gmelin) by Linnaeus.
The abbreviation "Gmel." is also found.[8]