Ele Willoughby, PhD
Happy birthday #entomologist & scientific illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717)! Her stepdad Jacob Marrel & students trained her as an artist. She began painting insects & plants by 13. She wrote, “I spent my time investigating insects. [...] I realized that other caterpillars produced beautiful butterflies or moths, and that silkworms did the same. This led me to collect all the caterpillars I could find in order to see how they changed”.⁠
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#printmaking #sciart #histsci
11:36amWeb
Show threadEle Willoughby, PhD9h ago
She married her stepdad’s apprentice Johann Andreas Graff; they had a daughter & moved to Nurenburg. She contributed income by painting, creating embroidery designs, & teaching drawing lessons to wealthy girls, which allowed her access to fine gardens where she continued collecting & documenting. She published her 1st book of nature illustrations, titled Neues Blumenbuch, in 1675. In 1679, she published her insect research in a 3-vol, illustrated book focusing on #insect #metamorphosis. 🧵2/
Show threadEle Willoughby, PhD9h ago
She moved to be with her mother after her stepdad’s death, then to join her half-brother at a Labadist religious community. After her mother’s death, she moved to Amsterdam in 1691 & divorced her husband in 1692.⁠
⁠ She became curious whether lifecycles of insects collected in Suriname mirrored those of Europe species. She was able to secure Amsterdam’s permission & travel grant to go to Suriname, with her younger daughter Dorothea Maria. 🧵3/
Show threadEle Willoughby, PhD9h ago

She planned a 5 year mission to study insects, making her perhaps the 1st person to plan a proper scientific expedition!⁠

⁠ She travelled throughout the colony sketching insects & plants. She criticized the Dutch planters’ treatment of Indigenous & enslaved Black people (though she relied upon enslaved amerindians & brought an amerindian woman named Indianin back to Holland). Malaria likely cut her expedition short & forced her return to Holland in 1701. 🧵4/5

Show threadEle Willoughby, PhD9h ago
She sold her collected specimen & in 1705 published Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium. ⁠
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She had a stroke in 1715 & died a pauper in 1717. Her daughter Dorothea published her Erucarum Ortus Alimentum et Paradoxa Metamorphosis, posthumously. Both Dorothea & Johanna followed their mother’s lead & became botanical illustrators.⁠
🧵5/5
Show threadtribactam8h ago
@minouette Thank you for taking the time to publish this. It is truly fascinating what some people were able to achieve in their lifetimes. I also think the print is cool. Is it a lino block?
Show threadater8h ago

@minouette There is an exhibit featuring her work (and others) at the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin, until around June! I was in awe the whole time.

https://www.dhm.de/en/exhibitions/nature-and-german-history-faith-biology-power/

Nature and German History. Faith – Biology – Power - Deutsches Historisches Museum

Exhibition “Nature and German History. Faith – Biology – Power” in the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin (14. November 2025 - 7. June 2026)

Deutsches Historisches Museum (DHM)