Edward Frederick Leitner

Edward Frederick Leitner, also Friedrich August Ludwig Leitner (February 4, 1812 – January 15, 1838) was a German botanist, naturalist and physician. He was killed in Florida during the Seminole Wars after volunteering to be a combat medic.

Edward Frederick Leitner
Born	February 4, 1812 Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg
Died	January 15, 1838 (aged 25) Near Jupiter Inlet, Florida, United States
Alma mater	University of Tübingen Medical University of South Carolina
Occupation	Botanist Physician
Known for	Researching plant life in South Florida
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Battles / wars	Second Seminole War First Battle of the Loxahatchee  †

Frederick Leitner was born in Stuttgart on February 4, 1812 to Johann Friedrich Leitner and Karoline Friedericke Bühler. His father was a gardener in the court of King Frederick I of Württemberg.^[1] At the age of four, his family moved to Schorndorf after the death of his father. Following studies of botany at the University of Tübingen, he moved to the United States after receiving a subsidy from the Society of Natural Sciences in Württemberg.

In 1831, Leitner began taking classes at the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston. In 1832, he befriended the famous naturalist John James Audubon while he was visiting Charleston.^[2] In 1833, he began to travel to Florida and collect botanical and zoological specimens in the Everglades. During his travels he eventually reached the Florida Keys, during which, he paid a visit to the Dry Tortugas.^[3]In 1834, he graduated from medical college with a dissertation on Hippomane mancinella, subsequently working as a lecturer at the South Carolina Medical Society.

The Seminole War that began in 1835 obstructed Leitner's research in South Florida, as the region had become a dangerous war zone. Leitner planned to join a U.S. Military unit, as it was the only way he could still travel through Florida and continue his research.^[4] In 1836 he traveled to Key West, where he joined U.S. Navy Lieutenant Levin M. Powell's unit as a guide and surgeon. On 15 January 1838, he was killed by Seminole warriors at the First Battle of the Loxahatchee.^[3] It was reported in a newspaper that he was likely targeted by the Seminoles because of his role as a combat medic.^[4] His body was never recovered after the battle.

At the time of Leitner's death, he was considered one of the world's leading experts on Florida's nature.^[4] After his death, 800 of his specimens eventually came into the possession of Jean Louis Cabanis in Germany, however these specimens were completely destroyed during the Bombing of Berlin in 1943. The genus Leitneria is named in his honor,^[5] as is the family Leitneriaceae, the latter taxa being circumscribed by George Bentham.^[6][7]

Publications associated with Leitner

• "Edward Frederick Leitner (1812-1838), Physician-botanist", by George Edmund Gifford (1972).^[8]