Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German naturalist, chemist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist.

He studied medicine under his father[1] at University of Tübingen and graduated with a Master's degree in 1768, with a thesis entitled: Irritabilitatem vegetabilium, in singulis plantarum partibus exploratam ulterioribusque experimentis confirmatam, defended under the presidency of Ferdinand Christoph Oetinger,[2] whom he thanks with the words Patrono et praeceptore in aeternum pie devenerando, pro summis in medicina obtinendis honoribus.

He died in 1804 in Göttingen and is buried there in the Albani cemetery with his wife Rosine Louise Gmelin (1755–1828, née Schott).

[citation needed] Johann Friedrich Gmelin when young became a respected colleague of Carl Linnaeus, probably when Linnaeus was visiting the Netherlands or northern Germany around 1770, and collected plants "Persia" on his behalf.

[3][4] Later in life he published several textbooks in the fields of chemistry, pharmaceutical science, mineralogy, and botany.