Elmar Emil Leppik, earlier Lepik (1898–1978) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as w ...

and

theoretical biologist Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of the Organism, living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, dev ...

. He established a mycological

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (calle ...

and library at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

. His birth date in 1898 has been given variously as 3 or 4 October or as 3 December, he died 4 November 1978 in Maryland. Leppik, the son of a farmer, was born in

Jõgeva Parish Jõgeva Parish ( et, Jõgeva vald) is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Jõgeva County. It has a population of 13,513 (2018) and an area of 458 km² (177 mi²). Populated places ;Towns: Jõgeva (administrative center) ;Small b ...

, a rural municipality of Estonia north of

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast o ...

. During his student years, he was interested in both

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, a ...

and

algology Algology may refer to: * Algology (medicine), the study of pain *Phycology, also known as algology, the study of algae *Marine botany Marine botany is the study of flowering vascular plant species and marine algae that live in shallow seawater o ...

. Following graduation, Leppik was a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

at the Rockefeller Foundation and later the University of Tartu. Among his instructors were the prominent mycologists Eduard Fischer and

Ernst Albert Gäumann Ernst Albert Gäumann (6 October 1893 – 5 December 1963) was a Swiss botanist and mycologist. Born in Lyss, Canton of Bern, he obtained his early education in Biel, where he experienced both German and French languages and cultures. Studying w ...

. He earned his PhD in 1928 in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

before returning to Estonia to work at University of Tartu. There, he was employed first as Acting Assistant Professor (1929–1931), then Assistant Professor (1931–1938), Professor Extraordinary (1938–1942), and finally

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

(1942–1944). In 1950 he moved to the United States, where he taught for the first seven years at the

Augustana University Augustana University is a private Lutheran university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The university identifies 1860 as the year of its founding, the same as its Rock Island, Illinois Swedish-heritage sister school, Augustana College. It derives ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

and worked as a research scientist at the

Hormel Institute The Hormel Institute is a biomedical research center located in Austin, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1942, the institute is a division of the University of Minnesota with scientists focusing primarily on cancer research. The Hormel Institut ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. In 1964 he moved to

Beltsville Beltsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The community was named for Truman Belt, a local landowner. The 2020 census counted 20,133 residents. Beltsville includes the unincorporated ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

, where he would stay for the rest of his life. His interests during this time shifted towards the

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...

of flowering plants and fungi, evolutionary classification of flower species, plant

coevolution In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for two traits in the same species affecting each other's evolution, as well ...

, insect pollination, and bee biology.

Important publications

*Lepik E. 1941. Einige Fragmente aus der geschichtlichen Entwicklung der ostbaltischen Pilzflora. ''Tartu R. Ülikooli juures oleva Loodusuurijate Seltsi aruanded'' (Annales societatis rebus naturae investigandis in Universitate Tartuensi constitutae) 47(1/2): 81–145. *Leppik E. 1955. Some viewpoints on the origin and evolution of flowering plants. ''Acta Biotheoretica'' 9(2): 45–56. *Leppik E. 1956. The form and function of numerical patterns in flowers. ''American Journal of Botany'' 43: 445–455. *Leppik, E. E. 1957. Hologeny, a complementary concept of phylogeny. ''Annales Societatis Tartuensis ad Res Naturae Investigandas Constitutae'' (series nova in excilio condita) 1: 41–51. *Leppik E. 1970. Phylogeny, hologeny and coenogeny, basic concepts of environmental biology. ''Acta Biotheoretica'' 23(3-4): 170–193.

References

1898 births 1978 deaths People from Jõgeva Parish People from the Governorate of Livonia Estonian mycologists University of Tartu alumni Academic staff of the University of Tartu {{Mycologist-stub

Important publications

See also

References