Elise Nees von Esenbeckartist • painterSchneidemühl (Duitsland; nu Pila (Polen)) 1842-1911 Jannowitz (D)

Elise Nees von Esenbeck was born in 1842 at Grabow Castle near Schneidemühl into a family of scholars and botanists. Her love for plants and flowers was most likely sparked by her grandfather, the famous 19th-century German physician and botanist Christian Gottfried Nees von Esenbeck, who has many publications to his credit. Elise made a name for herself by painting naturally arranged flower still lifes and also provided illustrations for botanical albums. Her great-uncle was Theodor Nees von Esenbeck, who worked in the Leiden Hortus around 1817.