Karl von Zois

Karl von Zois zu Laibach was a Carniolan amateur botanist and plant collector. He is best known today as the namesake of zoysiagrass, which was named by Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1801. The bellflower Campanula zoysii is also named after him.
Karl von Zois was born in Ljubljana and baptized Carolus Philippus Eugenius Zoiss. The Zois family was of Lombard origin; Karl's father was Michelangelo Zois, a merchant who married a Carniolan noblewoman, and was nobilitated in 1739. The family was based in Ljubljana. His brother was the natural scientist and patron of the arts Sigmund Zois.