Wilibald Swibert Joseph Gottlieb von Besser

Wilibald Swibert Joseph Gottlieb von Besser (7 July 1784 – 11 October 1842), known in Russia as Vilibald Gotlibovich Besser (Russian: Вилибальд Готлибович Бессер), was an Austrian-born botanist active in the Russian Empire's western regions, including modern-day Poland and Ukraine.

Life

Besser was born in Innsbruck. His parents died when he was 13, after which he was raised by his godfather, Swivert Burkhart Schivereck, who was a professor of botany at the University of Lwów. Besser received his initial education at Lwów, then entered university there to study medicine while also practising botany under the guidance of Schivereck, starting a large collection of botanical specimens. Upon the closure of the University of Lwów, von Besser accompanied Schivereck to his new teaching position in Krakow, where the latter died in 1806, leaving his godson with his herbarium. Von Besser graduated as a doctor from the University of Krakow in 1807, and continued to pursue his interest in botany under the direction of Schivereck's successor as chair of botany in Krakow, Josef August Schultes.

Von Besser briefly occupied a position at the local hospital before accepting an offer from Tadeusz Czacki to take up a position teaching at a school in Volhynia in 1808, under condition of becoming a Russian subject and teaching in Polish. The following year he relocated to Kremenets, where he became professor of botany and zoology at the Kremenets gymnasium as well as the director of the botanical garden.

In 1821, he went to Vilnius to confirm his degree of Doctor in Medicine, and the following year von Besser was elected member of the German Academy Leopoldina. For his students at the Kremenets lyceum (the status of lyceum was granted in 1819), as well for local enthusiasts, both of which periodically helped him with his collection.