Johannes Jacobus Smith

Johannes Jacobus Smith (Antwerp 29 June 1867 – Oegstgeest 14 January 1947) (sometimes written as Joannes Jacobus Smith) was a Dutch botanist who, between years 1905 to 1924, crossed the islands of the Dutch East Indies (mainly Java), collecting specimens of plants and describing and cataloguing the flora of these islands.

The description of the flowers of the western half of New Guinea (then a Dutch territory) is largely based on his work.

Smith then went to learn at the company of Messrs Groenewegen & Co., Amsterdam, where he took a special interest in orchids.

Smith moved to Dutch Java in 1891 and became assistant curator at the Buitenzorg Botanical Gardens (near Batavia), now Bogor.

Finally, he was appointed the director of the Botanical Gardens at Buitenzorg from 1913 till his retirement in 1924.