Maria Follieri (1932–2012) was a pioneering Italian archaeobotanist and held the Chair of

Palaeobotany Paleobotany or palaeobotany, also known as paleophytology, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant fossils from geology, geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environme ...

La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is as such one of the ...

Early life

Follieri was born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1932. She studied Natural Sciences at the

University La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

, graduating in 1954.

Career

Early work included studies of fossil leaves from a site near Rome. She lectured at La Sapienza in palaeobotany from 1965 onwards, being appointed Associate Professor in 1980. In 1986, she was promoted to Professor of Botany at the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences, before being appointed to the Chair of Palaeobotany in 1991. Follieri was one of the co-founders of the

International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany The International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany (IWGP) is an informal, international collective of archaeobotanists, with the main goal of establishing and maintaining international communication and collaboration by a series of conferences. T ...

in 1966, alongside

Maria Hopf Maria Hopf (13 September 1913 – 24 August 2008) was a pioneering archaeobotanist, based at the RGZM, Mainz. Career Hopf studied botany from 1941–44, receiving her doctorate in 1947 on the subject of soil microbes. She then worked in phy ...

and

Jane Renfrew Jane Renfrew, Lady Renfrew of Kaimsthorn is a British archaeologist and paleoethnobotanist noted for her studies on the use of plants in prehistory, the origin and development of agriculture, food and wine in antiquity, and the origin of the ...

. Her research spanned multiple themes, include the study of palaeoeclimate, palaeoethnobotany, and palaeovegetation, and chronologically, from the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

period to the Classical world. She studied the archaeobotanical contents of the sewer of the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

. Follieri was noted as the leading archaeobotanist in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the 1970s. She retired in 2004. A conference in memory of Follieri was held at La Sapienza in 2013. The 18th conference of the International Workgroup for Palaeoethnobotany is dedicated to the memory of Follieri. She was sister to the renowned Byzantinist and Paleographer

Enrica Follieri Enrica Follieri (5 December 1926 – 11 December 1999) was an Italian philologist and paleographer, specialized in Byzantine literature and hagiography. She spent her whole academic career at La Sapienza University of Rome. Biography Born in Rom ...

Selected publications

*Follieri, M. 1967. Vegetational features of some Mindel-Riss and Riss-Würn deposits in Italy and remaining Europe. ''Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology'' 2: 261–266. *Follieri, M. 1974. Wood technology of the Bronze age in Northern Italy. ''Annali di Botanica'' 33: 1–9. *Follieri, M. 1975. Resti vegetali macroscopici nel collettore ovest del Colosseo. ''Annali di Botanica'' 34: 123–141. *Follieri, M. 1977. Classification and phylogeny of living and fossil water ferns of the genus «Azolla». ''Webbia'' 31: 97–104. *Follieri, M., Magri, D., Sadori, L. 1986. Late Pleistocene ''Zelkova'' extinction in central Italy. ''

New Phytologist ''New Phytologist'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published on behalf of the New Phytologist Foundation by Wiley-Blackwell. It covers all aspects of botany and was established in 1902 by Arthur Tansley, who served as editor until 1931. M ...

'' 103(1): 269–273. *Follieri, M. 1987. L’agriculture des plus anciennes communautés rurales d’Italie. In J. C. Guillaine & J.-L. Roudil (eds.), ''Premiers Communautes Paysannes en Mediteranee Occidentale'' (pp. 243–247). CNRS éditions. *Follieri, M. 2010. Conifer extinction in Quaternary Italian records. ''

Quaternary International ''Quaternary International'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal on quaternary science published by Elsevier on behalf of the International Union for Quaternary Research. The journal was established in 1989 and covers full spectrum of the physi ...

'' 225 (1):37–43.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Follieri, Maria 1932 births 2012 deaths Archaeobotanists Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome