Photo of Maria Sibylla Merian

Maria Sibylla Merian

1647 - 1717

Personal Information

Born: 1647

Died: 1717

Professional Life

was a German entomologist, naturalist and scientific illustrator. She was one of the earliest European naturalists to document observations about insects directly. Merian was a descendant of the Frankfurt branch of the Swiss Merian family. ; illustrated the metamorphosis of the butterfly; illustrated the relationship between insects & plants unknown to Europeans while travelling to Surinam in 1699 & in 1705 published Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensum