Josef Poelt
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Josef Poelt was a botanist, bryologist and lichenologist. He held the chair in Systematic Botany and Plant Geography at the Free University of Berlin (1965 - 1972) and then was head of the Botanical Institute and Botanical Garden of Graz University, Austria (1972 - 1990).


Early life and education

Josef Poelt was born in 1925 in the village of Pöcking in Bavaria, Germany, where his parents ran a guest house. He began to study botany at the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
but due to the start of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he joined the German army and was assigned to an intelligence unit in Russia. After illness and time as a prisoner of war of the British, he returned to university study in 1946 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in natural sciences in 1950. Poelt was influenced by a botanist, H. Paul, to study non-flowering plants. He made use of the lichen herbarium at the university's botanic garden which contained nineteenth century specimens collected by Ferdinand Arnold and August von Krempelhuber. He later completed both his PhD (1950) and
habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
(1959) there.


Career

He became an assistant at the botanic garden in Munich and from 1954 was curator of the
cryptogam A cryptogam (scientific name ''Cryptogamae'') is a plant, in the broad sense of the word, or a plant-like organism that share similar characteristics, such as being multicellular, photosynthetic, and primarily immobile, that reproduces via sp ...
herbarium at the Botanische Staatssammlung München. In 1965, Poelt was appointed to the chair in Systematic Botany and Plant Geography at the
Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...
to lead a new research institute. He was able to recruit staff, including
Christian Leuckert Christian Leuckert was a lichen taxonomist who applied the diversity of secondary metabolites within lichens as useful taxonomic criteria. He was Director of the Institute of Plant Systematics and Plant Geography at the Free University of Berli ...
, and install new facilities including for chemotaxonomy of lichens. He moved to the chair in Systematic Botany at the University of Graz in Austria in 1972. This was in part to be away from student unrest in Berlin. He was able to develop an international centre for cryptogam biology that included visiting researchers, an extensive herbarium and training programmes. He retired in 1990 but continued to work at University of Graz as an emeritus professor until his death in 1995. Poelt specialised in the taxonomy, morphology, evolution and biology of lichens, especially the areas of lichen biology, correlations between structure and function, and evolutionary trends in lichens. His work from 1950 onwards provided modern, detailed and practical descriptions of lichen species. As well as microscopic features he also made use of chemical characteristics to circumscribe species. He made a significant contribution to the taxonomy of the Lecanoraceae, Physciaceae and the Teloschistaceae, as well as several other taxa. He also provided insights into the vegetative reproductive structures of lichens, described lichens that live on mosses ( muscicolous species) and investigated species with
cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...
photobiont A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualistic relationship.
s. He improved knowledge of parasitic lichens from that of vague and poorly understood organisms to where their biological and ecological strategies and characters were described clearly and he identified many new taxa with this parasitic habit. Others often sent him samples of lichens for advice about identification. He also travelled widely to see lichens in the field, including to Brazil, Costa Rica, Greenland, Tierra del Fuego, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal as well as all round Europe. In addition he had a very broad knowledge of general plant systematics and floristics. Poelt edited and co-edited eleven exsiccatae.Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. – Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany. In 1956 he started the edition of his first series ''Lichenes Alpium et regionum confinium'' distributed by the Botanische Staatssammlung München. It was followed by a number of exsiccatae distributed through the University of Graz, among them, starting in 1977, the series ''Reliquiae Petrakianae'' with plant material collected by
Franz Petrak Franz Petrak (9 October 1886, Mährisch-Weißkirchen – 9 October 1973, Vienna) was an Austrian-Czech mycologist. From 1906 to 1910, he studied botany at the University of Vienna, where he was a student of Richard Wettstein. In 1913, he obtai ...
.


Publications

Poelt published his first paper in 1950, and was an author or co-author of at least 400 publications. These included around 200 about lichens. The book ''Bestimmungsschlüssel europäischer Flechten'' was published in 1969, an important key for identification of European lichens, followed by several supplements (1977, 1981) that he prepared in collaboration with others. His completion of a comprehensive account of the lichens of Austria was prevented by his sudden death. He was also the author or co-author of at least 100 publications on bryophytes, vascular plants and fungi.


Honours and awards

He was elected as a member of the
Bavarian Academy of Sciences The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities () is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject. The general goal of th ...
in 1982. He was made an honorary member of the
Regensburg Botanical Society The Regensburg Botanical Society (''Regensburgische Botanische Gesellschaft''), founded 1790 in the city of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany, is the oldest extant scientific society focused on botany. It was initially supported by the Prince-Archbis ...
, the world's oldest botanical society and a foreign member of the
Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...
. He was also an honorary corresponding member of the
Botanical Society of America The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society. History The soc ...
. A
festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
was held to celebrate his birthday in 1985 when he was sixty. In 1992 he was awarded the
Acharius Medal __NOTOC__ The Acharius Medal is awarded by the International Association for Lichenology (IAL) for lifetime achievement in lichenology. The organization resolved at its 1990 meeting that it would simultaneously honor professional achievement and ...
by the
International Association for Lichenology The International Association for Lichenology (IAL) is an organisation that encourages the understanding of lichens and lichenology, and promotes their study and conservation worldwide. It unites lichenologists across the globe, as well as nation ...
in recognition of his long and distinguished service to lichenology. Eight genera, including '' Poeltiaria, Poeltidea'' and the anagram '' Topelia,'' and 33 species have been named after him.


Personal life

He married the mycologist Christa Meilhamer (1937–76) in 1959 and they had two children together. Poelt was an alpine mountaineer and good at
yodelling Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from t ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poelt, Josef 1925 births 1995 deaths Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni 20th-century German botanists German lichenologists 20th-century Austrian botanists Austrian lichenologists Academic staff of the Free University of Berlin Academic staff of the University of Graz Austrian yodelers German yodelers