Bojanus was born at Bouxwiller in Alsace and studied at Darmstadt and the University of Jena. In 1806 he became professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Vilnius, switiching to comparative anatomy in 1824. He produced an important work on the anatomy of turtles, Anatome Testudinis Europaeae. He was the author of several scientific discoveries, including the a glandular organ in bivalvular molluscs (Bojanus organ), and the aurochs. He died at Darmstadt.