John Lhotsky

In 1819 he published a botanical work Flora Conchica, and other papers for scientific journals, however, his political writing led to a prison sentence of six years.

[1] Lhotsky was commissioned, by Ludwig I of Bavaria, to explore and describe the 'new world', spending eighteen months in Brazil before travelling to Australia.

He published art criticism in Sydney from 1834 onwards, and is noted as the first to do so, describing the possibilities of the Australian landscape as a subject and its absence in the colony's active artists.

[9][10] Lhotsky made important scientific collections and discoveries while in Australia, although he did not succeed in gaining the posts he sought as the official zoologist or naturalist.

He attempted to sell his scientific specimens to the authorities, for the foundation of a collection at the Australian Museum, but his offer was rejected with a comment that the price was too high.

[1] Many of the scientific illustrations produced by Lhotsky, such as those of fishes, were thought to have been commissioned; the lithographs and other printed works credited to him were often derived from the sketches he received from convicts.

[citation needed] After his arrival in London, Lhotsky continued to publish material on politics and social commentary, as he had in Vienna and Australia.

He published many articles on his discoveries and experience in Australia for a public eager for information on the colonies, but some of this was described as slanderous in the Sydney Gazette.

[1][5] The genus Lhotskia, of the family of fish Belonidae, was named for this author, as were the species of shrubs Lhotskya, later transferred to Calytrix.