Naomi Feinbrun
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Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan (; 17 April 1900 – 8 March 1995) was a Russian-born Israeli botanist, who became part of the academic staff at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She studied the flora of Israel and published dozens of articles and several analytical flora books. Just after her 91st birthday, she received the 1991 Israel Prize for her unique contribution to the Land of Israel studies. She is the botanical author of '' Allium truncatum'', '' Allium dumetorum'', and ''
Iris regis-uzziae ''Iris regis-uzziae'' is a species in the genus ''Iris'', it is also in the subgenus ''Scorpiris''. Also known as ''King Uzziae Iris''. Named after the 742BC King of Judah, Uzziah. One translation of the Latin term 'Iris regis-uzziae' in Hebre ...
''.


Biography

Naomi Feinbrun was born in Moscow in 1900. Her parents, Rachel and Aharon Feinbrun, belonged to
Hovevei Zion The Lovers of Zion, also ''Hovevei Zion'' () or ''Hibbat Zion'' (, ), were a variety of proto-Zionist organizations founded in 1881 in response to the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire and were officially constituted as a group at a conf ...
and her father was also a member of the 'Benei Zion' association in Moscow. She had an older sister, Shulamit, and two younger brothers, Miron and Moshe. The family lived in Kishinev,
Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...
. She went to an elementary school where she was taught Hebrew and a Jewish girls’ high school in Kishinev. In 1907, the family moved to Moscow. After finishing high school in 1918, she went to
Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...
. In 1920, the family moved back to Bessarabia. She carried on her studies at the
University of Cluj A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
, in the Romanian province of
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
. In 1923, she received her first degree in botany. She then became a teacher at a Jewish girls high school, teaching natural sciences. In 1924, the entire Feinbrun family
immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
to
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
. Since Naomi was 24, she could not use her parents’ familial immigration certificate. Instead a relative helped her by testifying to the authorities that she had been a high-school student at the
Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium (, also known as ''Gymnasia Herzliya''), originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit (lit. Hebrew High School) is a historic high school in Tel Aviv, Israel, whose faculty and alumni includes many people influential in t ...
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 ...
before leaving for Moscow for a few years. After receiving a recommendation from Rachel Katznelson, Feinbrun started work as a teacher at a school in
Tel Adashim Tel Adashim () is a moshav in northern Israel. Located between Nazareth and Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council.
in the
Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...
. In 1925, Feinbrun went on a study tour for natural sciences teachers to the Tavor Mountain. Guiding the tour was
Alexander Eig Alexander Eig (, ; 1894 – 30 July 1938) was a botanist, one of the first plant researchers in Israel, head of the department of Botany at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and co-founder of the National Botanic Garden of Israel on Mount Scopus ...
. He encouraged her to do more plant research and became her mentor and colleague. On the 8 March 1995, Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan died just before her ninety-fifth birthday.


Scientific career

In 1926, she attended the Institute of Agriculture and Natural History 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 ...
, (which was directed by Otto Warburg) She then accepted the part-time post of guest researcher. During this time, she studied English mostly using G. E. Posts's book, 'Flora of Syria, Palestine and Sinai' (Beirut 1898). When 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. ...
was founded in April 1925, it was later decided that the Institute of Agriculture and Natural History would be part of the new university. Its name was changed to the 'Systematic Botany Branch', with Otto Warburg still the director. In 1929, she became an un-
tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...
d assistant at the university, with Alexander Eig and
Michael Zohary Michael Zohary (; born 9 April 1898 in Bóbrka, Galicia (Austria-Hungary); died 16 April 1983 in Jerusalem) was a pioneering Israeli botanist. Biography Michael Schein (later Zohary) was born into a Jewish family in Bóbrka, near Lviv (then Aus ...
, they moved to
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. With Eig and Zohary she started to organise the distribution of plant specimens from Israel in
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.Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. – Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany. The first series issued in 1930 is entitled ''Flora exsiccata Palaestinae a sectione botanica Universitatis Hebraicae Hierosolymitanae edita''. In 1931, they produced the first analytical flora book (written in Hebrew). It was later reprinted in English in 1965. The university had started as a research facility without formal teaching. The teaching of sciences started in the early 1930s. In the Department of Botany, genetics was chosen to be one of the six major subjects on the curriculum. Due to Feinbrun's
cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...
work with Hannan Oppenheitmer (who was engaged in physiological botany in Rehovot Campus of the university) she began teaching genetics. From 1930 to 1938, all her botanic publications were in Hebrew or German, and only after 1938 did she start publishing in English. In 1931, she went to the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science () was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by the Max Planck Society. The Kaiser Wilhelm Society was an umbrella organi ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in order to increase her knowledge of genetics and there she worked in the 'Department for Hereditary Research'. In 1931, Alexander Eig founded the
Jerusalem Botanical Gardens The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens (JBG) is a botanical garden and a center of botanical education and research in Jerusalem, Israel. The largest botanical garden in Israel, it features over 6,000 plant species from around the world, arranged in Phyto ...
on Mount Scopus, together with Michael Zohary and Feinbrun. In 1933, Feinbrun joined a delegation of seven Hebrew University scientists who were invited to
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
by the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. Their main purpose was to conduct a survey of the forests of
Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...
- preparing an inventory of trees and presenting a proposal for afforestation and for preserving the forests. Other research expeditions in which Feinbrun participated were to
Transjordan Transjordan may refer to: * Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River * Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan * Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946) * Hashemite Kingdom o ...
, the
Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...
,
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
,
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
and, in 1944, to the eastern desert in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. In 1935, she spent two and a half months in the laboratory of Professor Alexandre Guilliermond at the
Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...
in
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 ...
. When she returned to Palestine she began teaching genetics and cytology. Until the 1950s she was the only one who taught a course in genetics at the Hebrew University. In 1936, Eig established the 'Palestine Journal of Botany Jerusalem' In 1951 it was renamed the 'Israel Journal of Botany' and then in 1994 'Israel Journal of Plant Sciences'. In which Feinbrun and her colleagues used to publish their works. The first issue of the journal included a 'phytographic' map based on the three researchers’ many field trips. During this time, she worked on her doctoral dissertation, ''A monographic study of the genus '' Bellevalia'','' studying the number and form of chromosomes and using them in the systematic classification of this plant genus. Under the supervision of Dr. Eig. It was published in the 'Palestine Journal of Botany'. In 1938, at the age of 44, Dr. Alexander Eig died. After his death, his two assistants, Michael Zohary and Naomi Feinbrun, continued his work of documenting the flora of Palestine and cultivating the Mount Scopus Botanical Garden. Also in 1938, she received her Ph.D. degree, but was promoted from instructor to lecturer eventually in 1952. She devoted her full attention to the study of local and Middle Eastern species, mostly grown in her experimental plots and investigated cytotaxonomically (a branch of taxonomy in which chromosome characteristics are used to classify organisms). After 1947, when the state of Israel was established, she and her brothers 'Hebraized' their family name, and she became Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan. In 1953, Feinbrun spent a sabbatical year at the
herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, 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 sh ...
at
Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
in London and also the herbaria of
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
and
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. In 1960, she became an associate professor of the university. She joined Elisabeth Oldschmidt,
Tscharna Rayss Tscharna Rayss (; 1890-1965) was a Russian-Israeli botanist, phycologist, and mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi ...
and Hanna Rozin (in various fields of biology and medicine), who were the only three women of that rank in the university. In 1960, she wrote 'Wild plants in the land of Israel'. Between 1966 and 1986 she co-authored with Prof.
Michael Zohary Michael Zohary (; born 9 April 1898 in Bóbrka, Galicia (Austria-Hungary); died 16 April 1983 in Jerusalem) was a pioneering Israeli botanist. Biography Michael Schein (later Zohary) was born into a Jewish family in Bóbrka, near Lviv (then Aus ...
the four volumes of ''Flora Palaestina''. These books include analytical keys, botanical descriptions, and full page illustrations of the native and naturalized plant species of the region. In the 1970s, several bulbs of an unknown Colchicum were given to her to study. She identified it as a Greek species called '' Colchicum bowlesianum''. Later the bulbs were re-investigated by Karin Persson and were then classed as a separate species. She described the bulbs as a new species in the 'Israeli Journal of Plant Science'. She named it '' Colchicum feinbruniae'' after Prof. Feinbrun. In 1991, she wrote with Avinoam Danin, a new and updated analytical flora book.


Awards and recognition

In 1986, she was awarded a gold medal from 'Optima' (Organization for the Phyto-Taxonomic Investigation of the Mediterranean area), the International Organization of Mediterranean botanists in recognition of the completion of this landmark publication. In recognition of her botanical achievements, she was awarded the
Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...
(Land of Israel Studies) in 1991. Her memory lives on in a number of plants named in her honor by colleagues in Israel and abroad, among them '' Astragalus feinbruniae'' (1970), '' Bellevalia feinbruniae'' (1970) and '' Colchicum feinbruniae'' (1992).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feinbrun, Naomi 1900 births 1995 deaths Romanian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli botanists Babeș-Bolyai University alumni Moscow State University alumni Natural history of Israel Burials at Har HaMenuchot