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Jan Ingenhousz. Line engraving by D. Cunego, 1769 photo by –

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Jan Ingenhousz

A person who does scientific study to increase knowledge in a particular field is referred to as a scientist. Various factors encourage scientists to work.

Many people want to know how the world came to be and why it is the way it is. They display a keen interest in reality.

From all across the world, scientists have emerged to present some of their most compelling theories. The well-known scientist Jan Ingenhousz is one example.

Jan Ingenhousz was born on December 8th, 1730 in Breda, Netherlands. He was a Dutch physician, biologist, and chemist from the 18th century.

Arnold Ingenhousz’s wife, Maria Beckers, gave birth to three children in the Dutch Republic town of Breda, one of whom was named Ingenhousz. Jan’s sister passed away while she was a baby, and Maria passed away before Jan turned one.

Arnold Ingenhousz, their wealthy leather merchant and pharmacist father, reared Jan and his older brother. Discover Jan Ingenhousz’s family, life, career, accomplishments, and artwork through these 10 Intriguing Facts.

1. Ingenhousz studied medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven

Central Library of the Catholic University of Leuven photo by Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer) –

Not much is known about the parents of Ingenhousz, but they had sufficient means and social position to educate Jan far superior to that common to his time. 

When he was 16, Ingenhousz finished at the Latin school in Breda and began to study medicine at the University of Leuven in Belgium.

He completed his medical degree in 1753 and then studied science for two more years at the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands.

He soon acquired a reputation for great ability and his practice grew so large that it occupied all of his daytime

2. Ingenhousz became a doctor in his hometown

Photo by JC Gellidon on

He continued his education for two more years at the University of Leiden, where he heard lectures given by people like Pieter van Musschenbroek.

This sparked Ingenhousz’s interest in electricity for the rest of his life. He went back to Breda in 1755 and opened a general medical practice there.

3. He prevented hundreds of cases of smallpox

He saved hundreds. After his father passed away, Ingenhousz toured all of Europe to research smallpox vaccination procedures. He finally arrived in London in 1765 and spent three years there.

While there, he inoculated others with the live, unaltered virus that was extracted from individuals with moderate instances of the illness. Hundreds of villages at risk of smallpox received vaccinations from him.

The Austrian Empress Maria Theresa then became interested in his work in London. She invited him to Vienna in 1768 to shield the Habsburgs, her family, from the disease.

He was successful in vaccinating the Austrian royal family and remained there to serve as the empress’s court physician.

4. Ingenhousz was once summoned by the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa

Portrait of Maria Theresa of Austria (1717-1780) photo by f Martin van Meytens –

Hundreds of villages at risk of smallpox received vaccinations from him.

The Austrian Empress Maria Theresa then became interested in his work in London. She invited him to Vienna in 1768 to shield the Habsburgs, her family, from the disease.

He was successful in vaccinating the Austrian royal family and remained in the country to serve as the empress’s court physician.

5. Ingenhousz married Agatha Maria Jacquin

In November 1775, Ingenhousz married Agatha Maria Jacquin. Agatha was also Dutch, the sister of a professor of botany and chemistry in Vienna. Ingenhousz was 44 years old and she was 40. They had no children.

6. He Made His Photosynthesis Discovery in 1779

Jan Ingenhousz. Line engraving by D. Cunego, 1769 photo by –

According to Physics Today, he documented his research in the article experiments upon vegetables, discovering their great power of purifying the common air in sunshine, and injuring It in the shade and at night.

In that work, Ingenhousz demonstrated for the first time how light is necessary for plants to take carbon dioxide and release oxygen during the process of photosynthesis.

He discovered that plants, specifically the parts of them that are green, release an ignitable gas (oxygen) when they are exposed to light, a process that was later called photosynthesis.

Plants released a separate gas (carbon dioxide) at night, though not in large amounts. Plants do respire, converting oxygen to carbon dioxide, but this is outweighed by their capacity to engage in photosynthesis, which releases oxygen into the atmosphere.

7. He discovered the concept known as the Brownian motion

He also made strides in chemistry. He discovered the concept later known as the Brownian motion. In 1785, Ingenhousz reported that under a microscope he had observed irregular movement of coal dust on the surface of alcohol.

He thus described Brownian motion at a much earlier date than did Robert Brown (1827), the English investigator for whom the phenomenon is named.

8. He had an accident that “Sent electricity to his head”

Throughout his life, Ingenhousz travelled much. He also resided briefly in France, Scotland, and Switzerland in addition to Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and England.

He developed a reputation as one of the most influential thinkers of his time and maintained contact and travelled with colleagues like Henry Cavendish, the scientist who discovered hydrogen, and Benjamin Franklin.

Ingenhousz was a biologist and doctor in addition to having a wide range of interests. He also studied electricity, heat conduction, and physics.

According to the paper “Medical Electricity and Madness in the 18th Century,” he wrote about how he suffered an accident that sent electricity to his head.

9. Ingenhousz engineered the construction of the maritime compass

Compass, maritime Description: Boat compass. Large semi-spherical compass. Made of metal with a glass front photo by Auckland Museum Collections –

Ingenhousz engineered the construction of the maritime compass. He revealed the paramagnetic characteristics of platinum.

He made several other laboratory experiments on electromagnetism and heat conduction.

10. Ingenhousz died in 1799 in England

Ingenhousz passed away at Calne, Wiltshire, England, on September 7, 1799, 20 years after he discovered photosynthesis. He was 68.

The following year, he lost his wife. Ingenhousz is interred in Calne’s St. Mary the Virgin Churchyard.