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{{Short description|German botanist and forester (1824–1907)}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix = '''[[Order of the Indian Empire|Sir]]'''
| name = Dietrich Brandis
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of the Indian Empire|KCIE]], [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]
| image = DietrichBrandis.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1824|03|31|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Bonn]], Germany
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1907|05|29|1824|03|31|df=yes}}
| death_place = Bonn
| other_names =
| occupation = Botanist, forestry academic, civil servant
| known_for =
| author_abbrev_bot = Brandis
}}
Sir '''Dietrich Brandis''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCIE|FRS}} (31 March 1824 – 28 May 1907) was a German-British [[botanist]] and [[forestry]] academic and administrator, who worked with the British [[Imperial Forestry Service]] in colonial India for nearly 30 years. He joined the British civil service in [[Burma]] in 1856, shortly afterwards became head of the British forestry administration in all of Burma, and served as Inspector General of Forests in India from 1864 to 1883. He returned to Europe in 1883, dividing his time between Bonn and [[Greater London]]. In retirement he dedicated himself to scholarly work, resulting in the book ''[[Indian Trees]]'' (1906), his ''[[magnum opus]]''. Brandis is considered the father of [[tropics|tropical]] [[forestry]] and has also been described as the father of scientific forestry. In addition to his work in India, he also had a significant influence on [[forest management]] in the United States.

== Early life, education and family ==
A member of the patrician [[Brandis family]], Dietrich Brandis was born in [[Bonn]], Germany, and was the son of the prominent philosopher [[Christian August Brandis]], who was tutor to the young [[King Otho of Greece]] and Professor of Philosophy at the [[University of Bonn]]. His grandfather [[Joachim Dietrich Brandis]] was personal physician to [[Marie of Hesse-Kassel|Queen Marie of Denmark and Norway]] and a member of the [[Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters]].

He studied at the universities of Copenhagen Biology, Göttingen Botany and Bonn Biology major and minor Geography and Antiquites, and in 1849, he took up a post as a lecturer in [[botany]] at Bonn. His interest in [[forest management]] was initially from a [[botany|botanical]] perspective.

In 1854, he married Rachel Marshman, a daughter of the Indian scholar and missionary [[Joshua Marshman]] and a sister of the wife of [[Henry Havelock|General Havelock]]. His brother-in-law Havelock was a friend of [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]], the Governor-General of India, and it was this connection that brought him to [[Burma]] and eventually India.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rajan, Ravi|chapter=Imperial environmentalism or environmental imperialism?|year=1998|title=Colonial foresters and the agendas of forest management in British India 1800–1900|editor=Richard H. Grove, Vinita Damodaran and Satpal Sangwan |pages=324–371}}</ref> His first wife died in India in 1862, and during a two-year sabbatical in Europe from 1865 to 1867, he met and married [[Katharina Brandis|Katharina Hasse]], eighteen years his junior. She moved to India with him and the couple had six children, some of whom did not reach adulthood.<ref>{{cite DNB12|wstitle=Brandis, Dietrich |first=David |last=Prain}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=80|year=1908|url=https://archive.org/stream/philtrans03206745/03206745#page/n1/mode/2up|pages=iii-vi|title=Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. Sir Dietrich Brandis, 1824–1907|doi=10.1098/rspb.1908.0046|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Dietrich Brandis was the father of supreme court justice [[Bernhard Brandis]] and the grandfather of the microbiologist [[Henning Brandis]].

== Forestry administrator in British India ==
Among other natural resources, the British government in India was interested in the use of [[forest produce]]. The felling of trees was unregulated, and between 1847 and 1850 the British government started to realize that the forests in India were being lost. In 1850, the British Association in Edinburgh formed a committee to study forest destruction at the behest of [[Hugh Francis Cleghorn|Hugh Cleghorn]]. In 1855, [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]], the [[Governor-General of India]] issued a Memorandum of the Government of India. This was based on reports submitted by [[John McClelland (doctor)|John McClelland]], then Superintendent of Forests in [[Burma]], at the time part of the British India.

=== Burma ===

Brandis joined the British civil service in 1856 as superintendent of the teak forests of [[Pegu]] division in eastern [[Myanmar|Burma]]. In 1858 he became head of the imperial forest administration of all of [[British rule in Burma|British Burma]].

During that time Burma's [[teak]] forests were controlled by militant [[Karen people|Karen]] tribals. He introduced the "taungya" system,<ref>King KFS, "Agro-silviculture (the taungya system)". University of Ibadan / Dept. of Forestry, Bulletin no. 1, 1968, 109pp.</ref> in which Karen villagers provided labour for clearing, planting and weeding teak plantations. In return, they were allowed to plant crops for the first few years between the trees. As the teak trees grew, villagers were moved to new land and the process was repeated. As a result of this process, many villagers became dependent on the state forestry service and local resistance to the state takeover of forests became increasingly difficult.

Based on his academic training, Brandis was initially interested in botany. His herbarium and botanical library, which he shipped from Calcutta to Rangoon, were lost when the boat carrying it capsized. This loss led him to shift his focus from botanical studies to forestry.

Brandis' work included the determination of teak volume, rate of growth, identifying rate of harvest, developing forest protection plans against pests and fire. He also introduced timber purchase rules, clearing rules and the establishment of managed teak areas called ''conservancies'' with officers who were appointed as ''Conservators''. Based on his experience, he helped formulate the [[Indian Forest Act, 1927#History|''Indian Forest Act of 1865'']].

== Contribution to forestry management in India ==

In 1864 Brandis became Inspector General of Forests in India, a position he served in for 20 years. He formulated new forest legislation and helped establish research and training institutions. The [[Imperial Forest School]] at [[Dehradun]] was founded by him. Brandis was created a Companion of the Indian Empire in 1878, and he became a Knight Commander of the same order in 1887.

Brandis documented the [[sacred grove]]s in Rajputana and ''Kans'' (woodlands) of [[Mysore]], the Garo and Khasia hills, which he visited in 1879, the ''[[Sacred grove|Devarakadus]]'' of [[Coorg]] in 1868, the hill ranges of the Salem district in the Madras Presidency in 1882, the ''Swami Shola'' on the [[Yelagiri Hills|Yelagiris]], the sacred grove at Pudur on the [[Javadi Hills|Javadis]] and several sacred forests on the [[Shevaroys]]. He was among the earliest in India to formally link forest protection with local peoples.

He also took an interest in the forest flora of northwest and central India and of Indian trees in general. Even after retirement, Brandis continued to work on Indian forestry and, at the age of 75, he started his principal botanical work, ''Indian Trees'', dealing with 4400 species. It was first published in 1906 and re-issued several times afterwards, the last time in 1971. He was posted at [[Balaghat]] in M.P. as a principal of forester training institute for a long time in his service period.

== Retirement ==
After his retirement from the position as Inspector General of Forests in India in 1883, he returned to [[Bonn]], but frequently visited England in the following years. From 1900 until 1906 he lived permanently in [[Kew]] in [[Greater London]]. He also supervised training of forestry students at the [[Royal Indian Engineering College]] in England for eight years (1888–1896). His interest in American affairs led him to take special care of American foresters visiting Europe, for which he received a personal letter of thanks by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.<ref>R.P. Sharma, ''The Indian Forester'', vol. 112, 1986</ref> He was succeeded as Inspector General of Forests by [[Frederick Bailey (forester)|Lt Col Frederick Bailey]] of the [[Royal Engineers]].<ref>Whos Who in India, Riddick 1998</ref>

Shortly after returning to Bonn in late 1906, he was hospitalized and died a few months later on 28 May 1907.

== Broader influence ==
[[File:Dalbergia sissoo00.jpg|thumb|{{center|''[[Dalbergia sissoo]]'' from "''Illustrations of the Forest Flora of North-West and Central India''"}}]]

Brandis was also involved in forestry education in England at [[Royal Indian Engineering College|Coopers' Hill]]. He also influenced and mentored many like [[Berthold Ribbentrop]], [[Sir William P.D. Schlich|W. Schlich]] and [[Carl A. Schenck|C.A. Schenck]] of Germany (while a visiting professor at the [[University of Giessen]]), and [[Gifford Pinchot]] and [[Henry S. Graves|Henry Graves]] (the first and second chiefs of the USDA Forest Service) of the United States.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}

He influenced the forestry movement in the United States by mentoring Pinchot, Graves, and others who came to study with him in Germany, and through his voluminous correspondence with many other men, such as Charles Sprague Sargent and [[Franklin Hough]] involved in establishing the U.S. national forest system. Pinchot relied heavily upon Brandis' advice for introducing professional forest management in the U.S. and on how to structure the Forest Service in 1905. His influence was so great that President [[Theodore Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] sent him a photograph in 1896 with the inscription
{{blockquote|"To Sir Dietrich Brandis, in high appreciation of his services to forestry in the United States. From Theodore Roosevelt."<ref>Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, Volume 80, page V paragraph IV</ref>}}

== Honours ==
*Honorary member of the [[Royal Scottish Forestry Society|Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society]], 1874
*[[Fellow of the Royal Society]], 1875
*Companion of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]], 1878
*Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]], 1887
*The honorary title Professor awarded by the Prussian Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, 1893
*Doctor honoris causa of law, [[University of Edinburgh]], 1898
*Honorary member of the [[Society of American Foresters]], 1904

== Legacy ==

Many species of plants are named after him:
* ''[[Cananga brandisiana]]'' (Pierre) Saff.
* ''[[Dendrocalamus brandisii]]'' (Munro) Kurz
* ''[[Diospyros brandisiana]]'' Kurz
* ''[[Ochlandra brandisii]]'' Gamble
* ''[[Macaranga brandisii]]'' King
* ''[[Millettia brandisiana]]'' Kurz
* ''[[Orophea brandisii]]'' Hook.f. & Thomson
* ''[[Quercus brandisiana]]'' Kurz
* ''[[Ardisia brandisiana]]'' Kurz
* ''[[Iodes brandisii]]'' Kurz
* ''[[Ixora brandisiana]]'' Kurz
* ''[[Loranthus brandisanus]]'' Kurz
* The genus ''[[Brandisia]]'' Hook.f. & Thomson is also named after him.

{{Botanist|Brandis|Brandis, Dietrich}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite journal | year = 1907 | title = Obituary: Sir Dietrich Brandis, F. R. S | journal = The Geographical Journal | volume = 30 | issue = 1| page = 97 }}
* Rao, V. S. 1961. ''100 years of Indian Forestry''. Souvenir. Forest Research Institute. Dehra Dun. [https://archive.org/details/100yearsofindian029827mbp scanned version]
* Herbert Hesmer. "Leben und Werk von Dietrich Brandis. Begründer der tropischen Forstwirtschaft, Förderer der forstlichen Entwicklung in den U.S.A., Botaniker und Ökologe". Abstracts of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vol. 58. XXIII u. 476. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen, 1975.
* James G. Lewis. [http://www.foresthistory.org/Publications/USFS%20centennial.html ''The Forest Service and the Greatest Good: A Centennial History''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311202626/http://www.foresthistory.org/Publications/USFS%20centennial.html |date=11 March 2017 }}. Durham, NC: [[Forest History Society]], 2005.
* S. S. Negi. ''Sir Dietrich Brandis: Father of Tropical Forestry''. Dehra Dun, India: Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, 1991.
*{{cite journal | last1 = Weil | first1 = Benjamin | year = 2006 | title = Conservation, Exploitation, and Cultural Change in the Indian Forest Service, 1875–1927 | url = https://historycooperative.org/journal/conservation-exploitation-and-cultural-change-in-the-indian-forest-service-1875-1927/ | journal = Environmental History | volume = 11 | issue = 2| page = 57 | doi = 10.1093/envhis/11.2.319 | url-access = subscription }}
*{{cite ODNB|title=Brandis, Sir Dietrich (1824–1907)|author=David Prain, rev. M. Rangarajan|id=32045}}
*Michael Mann: "[https://www.projekt-mida.de/reflexicon/dietrich-brandis-1824-1907-botanist-and-founder-of-the-science-of-tropical-forestry/ Dietrich Brandis (1824–1907) – Botanist and Founder of the Science of Tropical Forestry]." in: ''MIDA Archival Reflexicon'' (2020), [http://d-nb.info/1182358047 ISSN 2628-5029], 6 pp.

== External links ==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{Commons}}
*[http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/brandis/ Scanned plates from the Indian forest flora of Dietrich Brandis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203061337/http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/brandis/ |date=3 February 2007 }}
*Jan Oosthoek, [http://www.eh-resources.org/colonial_forestry.html The colonial origins of scientific forestry in Britain]
*http://www.ifs.nic.in

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandis, Dietrich}}
[[Category:1824 births]]
[[Category:1907 deaths]]
[[Category:British foresters]]
[[Category:German foresters]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Linnean Society of London]]
[[Category:Forestry academics]]
[[Category:Imperial Forestry Service officers]]
[[Category:Indian foresters]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Scholars from Dehradun]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Giessen]]
[[Category:British people in British India]]
[[Category:German expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:19th century in Burma]]
[[Category:German emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:German fellows of the Royal Society]]

Dietrich Brandis - Revision history

Stickerlabelingmachine at 18:56, 29 January 2026