Gontran Georges Henri Hamel (1883–1944) was a French phycologist. In 1927 he earned his doctorate in

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

with a thesis on the

red algae Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), make up one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta comprises one of the largest Phylum, phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 recognized species within over 900 Genus, genera amidst ongoing taxon ...

genera '' Acrochaetium'' and '' Rhodochorton''. He is known for research performed in the "Laboratoire de Cryptogamie" at the

Museum d'Histoire Naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He reportedly died while trying to reach Paris by bicycle prior to its

liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

in August 1944.BHL
Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications In 1924 with Pierre Allorge (1891–1944), he was co-founder of the journal ''Revue algologique''. Since 1927 he was also the editor and a contributor to the

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

series ''Algues de France''. In 1942

Frederik Børgesen Fredrik Christian Emil Børgesen (1 January 1866 in Copenhagen – 22 March 1956 in Frederiksberg) was a Danish botanist and phycologist. He graduated in botany from the University of Copenhagen and was subsequently employed as an assistant at ...

named the

brown algae Brown algae (: alga) are a large group of multicellular algae comprising the class (biology), class Phaeophyceae. They include many seaweeds located in colder waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Brown algae are the major seaweeds of the temperate ...

genus ''Hamelella'' (family

Chordariaceae Chordariaceae is a family (biology), family of brown algae. Members of this family are may be filamentous, crustose with fused cells at the base, or they may be terete and differentiated into a central Medulla (lichenology), medulla and an outer ...

) in his honor. Also, the red algae species ''

Lithothamnion ''Lithothamnion'' is a genus of thalloid red alga comprising 103 species. Its members are known by a number of common names.Recorded common names are griuán, maërl, punalevä-suku, stenhinna and maerl. The monomerous, crustose thalli are compos ...

hamelii'' is one of several species that bear his name.

Written works

* ''Recherches sur les genres Acrochaetium Naeg. et Rhodochorton Naeg.'', 1927. (doctoral thesis) * ''Chlorophycées des côtes française'', Revue algologique, 1928 -

Chlorophyceae The Chlorophyceae, also known as chlorophycean algae, are one of the classes of green algae, within the phylum Chlorophyta. They are a large assemblage of mostly freshwater and terrestrial organisms; many members are important primary producers i ...

of coastal France. * ''Floridées de France'' Laboratoire de Cryptogamie, (1924–1933) - Florideae of France. * ''Phéophycées de France'', 1931–1939 -

Phaeophyceae Brown algae (: alga) are a large group of multicellular algae comprising the class Phaeophyceae. They include many seaweeds located in colder waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Brown algae are the major seaweeds of the temperate and polar regio ...

of France. * ''Corallinacées de France et d'Afrique du Nord'' (with Paul Lemoine) -

Corallinaceae The Corallinaceae are one of the two extant Coralline families of red algae; they are differentiated from the morphologically similar Sporolithaceae by their formation of grouped sporangial chambers, clustered into sori. The Corallinoideae ...

of France and northern Africa.WorldCat Titles
Corallinacées de France et d'Afrique du Nord

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamel, Gontran French phycologists 20th-century French botanists 1883 births 1944 deaths French civilians killed in World War II World War II refugees