Carl Christian Mez (26 March 1866 – 8 January 1944) was a German

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and university professor. He is denoted by the author abbreviation Mez when citing a

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or cultivar group, Group epithets must conform t ...

Life and work

Mez came from a family of industrialists in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

. He was a grandchild of the entrepreneur and politician Karl Christian Mez (1808–1877). As a high-school student he was interested in botany, and wrote a technical paper regarding a hybrid ''

Inula ''Inula'' is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. They may be annuals, herbaceous perennials or subshrubs that vary greatly in size, from small species a few centimeter ...

''. In 1890, Mez married Therese (Thea) Jensen (1867–1937), the daughter of poet

Wilhelm Jensen Wilhelm Hermann Jensen (15 February 183724 November 1911) was a German writer and poet. Biography Wilhelm Jensen was born at Heiligenhafen in the Duchy of Holstein (now Germany), the illegitimate son of Swenn Hans Jensen (1795–1855), the Ma ...

. They had 5 children together. Through their oldest daughter's marriage, they became parents-in-law to psychologist Narziß Ach. He first studied at the university in his hometown from 1883 to 1884, and then moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

for one semester before returning in 1886 to Freiburg. He wrote his thesis at Berlin, on the

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant Family (biology), family that includes the bay laurel, true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genus (biology), genera worldwide. They are dicotyled ...

(the Laurel family), and received his Ph.D. from there. After completing his degree, Mez worked briefly at the Berlin Botanical Museum, then moved to Breslau where he worked as a private lecturer. In 1900, Mez became Professor of Systematic Botany and Pharmaceutical Studies in Halle, and in 1910 he became Professor of Plant-physiology and Director of the Botanical Gardens near

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

. He was made Professor Emeritus in 1935. Mez was founder of the Botanical Archives, and, until 1938, publisher as well. His main areas of research were systematics and physiology. He continued to study the taxonomy and morphology of the Lauraceae, and introduced the use of

serology Serology is the scientific study of Serum (blood), serum and other body fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the medical diagnosis, diagnostic identification of Antibody, antibodies in the serum. Such antibodies are typically formed in r ...

as a method of studying plant relationships. Also, he studied

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, genetics, biochemistry, biochemical properties, and ethnomycology, use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, Edible ...

, and wrote about

dry rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of wood which give it strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resulted in a ...

. The plant genera '' Mezia'' ( Schwacke ''ex'' Nied.), '' Meziella'' ( Schindl.) and '' Neomezia'' (family

Primulaceae The Primulaceae ( ), commonly known as the primrose family (but not related to the Onagraceae, evening primrose family), are a family (biology), family of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous and woody flowering plants including some favourite garden pla ...

) were all named in his honor.

Writings (selected)

* ''Lauraceae Americanae, monographice descripsit / - Berlin, 1889. Jahrbuch des königlichen botanischen Gartens und des botanischen Museums; Bd. 5'' * ''Das Mikroskop und seine Anwendung : ein Leitfaden bei mikroskopischen Untersuchungen für Apotheker, Aerzte, Medicinalbeamte, Techniker, Gewerbtreibende etc.- 8., stark verm. Aufl. - Berlin : 1899'' * ''Myrsinaceae''. Leipzig .a.1902. * ''Mikroskopische Untersuchungen, vorgeschrieben vom Deutschen Arzneibuch : Leitfaden für das mikroskopisch-pharmakognostische Praktikum an Hochschulen und für den Selbstunterricht - Berlin : 1902'' * ''Theophrastaceae - Leipzig .a.: 1903'' * ''Der Hausschwamm und die übrigen holzzerstörenden Pilze der menschlichen Wohnungen : ihre Erkennung, Bedeutung und Bekämpfung''. Dresden 1908. * ''Die Haftung für Hausschwamm und Trockenfäule: eine Denkschrift für Baumeister, Hausbesitzer und Juristen ...''. Berlin 1910. * ''Zur Theorie der Sero-Diagnostik - Berlin: Dt. Verl.-Ges. für Politik und Geschichte, 1925'' * ''Drei Vorträge über die Stammesgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt mit 1 Stammbaum des Pflanzenreichs / 1925'' * ''Theorien der Stammesgeschichte - Berlin : Deutsche Verl.-Ges für Politik und Geschichte, 1926'' * ''Versuch einer Stammesgeschichte des Pilzreiches''. Halle (Saale) 1928. * ''Bromeliaceae''. Leipzig 1935.

References

* F. Butzin (1968): ''Carl Mez, ein Leben für die Botanik''. Willdenowia 4: 401-415. * Ilse Jahn (2000): ''Geschichte der Biologie''. Spektrum

External links

Literature about and by Carl Christian Mez in the catalog of the Deutschen NationalbibliothekList of plants described by Carl Christian Mez (IPNI)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mez, Carl Christian German taxonomists 1866 births 1944 deaths Botanists with author abbreviations Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Freiburg alumni Academic staff of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Academic staff of the University of Breslau Academic staff of the University of Königsberg Scientists from Freiburg im Breisgau People from the Grand Duchy of Baden 19th-century German botanists 20th-century German botanists