Margalith Galun (; 21 February 1927 – 16 April 2012) was an Israeli
lichenologist. She was a member of the
Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and established the Israeli collection of lichens at
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
. Founder of the academic journal ''Symbiosis'', she served as its editor-in-chief between 1985 and 2006. In 1994, she was awarded the
Acharius Medal and in 1996 won the Meitner-Humboldt Prize, for her contributions to the field. The
International Association for Lichenology grants an award which bears her name to honor scholarship at their quadrennial symposium.
Early life
Melitta Katz was born on 21 February 1927 in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, Austria to Amalia (née Teitelbaum) and Arie Katz. Originally from
Lviv
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
, her father was a merchant and was involved in the Zionist and socialist movements. After completing her elementary school in Vienna and beginning her
gymnasium studies, her family decided to immigrate in 1938. They were unsuccessful in leaving Austria and to get their daughter out of the country Melitta was adopted by a Jewish-Swiss family, changing her name to Margalith, in 1939. Her parents were eventually able to join their daughter in Switzerland and in October of that year, the family immigrated to Palestine. In
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
, Katz completed her secondary studies at
Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium in 1946, and went to live and work at the
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
of
Kfar Giladi for several months. When her mother died, she returned to Tel Aviv to be with her father and enrolled in courses at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
in 1947.
Within a month, the
1947–1949 Palestine war began and Katz interrupted her studies to join the
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
. When the conflict ended in 1949, she returned to her classes and completed her undergraduate degree in 1952, going on to earn a master's degree in botany in 1954. She worked as a teaching assistant during her master's studies and in 1953 married Esra Galun. Her son Eithan was born in 1954 and that year she began working on her PhD at Hebrew University, simultaneously working as a research assistant at the
Volcani Agriculture Institute in
Rehovot
Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of .
Etymology
Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...
. In 1959, her second son Ehud was born and the following year, she completed her dissertation ''Die Flechten im Negev, Israel'' (The lichens in the Negev, Israel) under the direction of
Israel Reichart, earning her PhD.
Career
Joining her husband in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
, Galun conducted research at the
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...
from 1961 to 1962. Returning to Rehovot, she was employed at the
Israel Institute for Biological Research in
Ness Ziona from 1962 to 1965, receiving a research grant from the
Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. In 1965, she was hired as a
lecturer in the botany department at
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
. She worked her way up the ladder, being promoted to
senior lecturer in 1969,
associate professor
Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''.
In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...
in 1971, and to
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
in 1977. In addition to serving as department chair and on various departmental committees, she served as Dean of Students from 1977 to 1980, as a member of the Admissions Committee from 1978 to 1985; on the Board of Directors from 1989–1992, as well as other administrative positions. She also served on the Scientific Council at the Institute of Nature Conservation between 1988 and 1991.

Simultaneously with her teaching, Galun conducted research on
lichens
A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...
. Establishing a research group, Galun led her students to collect samples and create the collection of lichens from throughout Israel for the university. Eventually their collection became international, including samples from many other countries. Initially her own research focused on identifying the varieties of lichen in Israel, but soon turned her attention to vegetative tissue, or
thallus, to evaluate the interaction between algae and fungus during its formation. Studying the signalling molecules with
electron microscopy, she wrote over 90 papers about lichen symbiosis and the absorption of metals by lichens, becoming "recognized as one of the world's foremost lichenologists".
In 1985, Galun founded the academic journal ''
Symbiosis
Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction, between two organisms of different species. The two organisms, termed symbionts, can fo ...
'' and served as its editor-in-chief from 1985 to 2006. Between 1987 and 1993, she was the vice president of the
International Association for Lichenology and during her term organized the first International Symbiosis Congress held in Jerusalem in 1991. She served as editor for the three volume work ''Handbook of Lichenology'' (CRC Press, 1988), which gave an encyclopedic overview of the research and discoveries in the field from
Simon Schwendener's pioneering work to the present date. In 1994, Galun was the recipient of the
Acharius Medal presented by the International Association for Lichenology
and in 1996, she was awarded the Meitner-Humboldt Prize from the
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Death and legacy
Galun died on 16 April 2012 after a lengthy illness. An annual award bearing her name was initiated in 2012 by the International Association for Lichenology to be given to the outstanding student presenter at the organization's quadrennial symposium.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Galun, Margalith
1927 births
2012 deaths
Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
California Institute of Technology alumni
Academic staff of Tel Aviv University
Israeli women scientists
Lichenologists
Israeli women academics
20th-century Israeli women scientists
Jewish women scientists
Acharius Medal recipients
Women lichenologists