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Julius August Bentzien (1815-1882)

Horticulturalist, MA theology 1839, gardener at the Royal Danish Society of Gardening 1847-64, private landscape gardener 1864-82.

As editor of Dansk Havetidende [Danish Journal of Gardening] from 1863, J.A. Bentzien was among the first professionals to introduce Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. In October and November 1864, he published in his journal a four-part summary of the Origin of Species based on an article in a German journal of agriculture. Bentzien supported Darwin’s innovative ideas. Bentzien emphasised the influence gardening and animal breeding had on the development and verification of Darwin’s theory, and used this as a reminder to naturalists that they should value the scientific results produced by gardeners and breeders and not merely judge it by its practical implications.              

Hans Henrik Hjermitslev

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