De Gorter was a professor at the University of Harderwijk and royal physician to Empress Elizabeth of Russia.

At Harderwijk, De Gorter made friends with the young Carl Linnaeus, who came there to obtain his doctorate degree.

In St Petersburg, de Gorter edited and published Stepan Krasheninnikov's last work, Flora Ingrica.

[2] On May 21, 1775 De Gorter married Mary Elizabeth Schultz, a friend of Betje Wolff.

De Gorter spent his last years in Zutphen, where he wrote his Flora of the Seven Provinces.