Robert Hippolyte Chodat (4 June 1865,

Moutier Moutier () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Switzerland. Currently, the town belongs to the Jura bernois (administrative district), Jura bernois administrative district of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Ber ...

– 28 April 1934) was a Swiss

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and phycologist who was a professor and director of the botanical institute at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

. He studied medicine and botany at

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, where he was later a lecturer of

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

. In 1889 he attained the title of associate professor, two years later becoming a full professor of medical and

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

botany. From 1900 onward, he taught classes in general and systematic botany. In 1908 he was appointed rector at the University of Geneva. Chodat was a leading authority of the botanical family

Polygalaceae The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in on ...

. In 1914, with

Emil Hassler Emil Hassler (20 June 1864 – 4 November 1937) (French:, Spanish: ) was a Swiss physician, ethnographer, naturalist and botanist well known for his collections and contributions to the description of the flora and culture of Paraguay. Hass ...

(1864–1937), he collected plants in Región Oriental of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. He was made Chevalier de la

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1909. He was winner of the 1933

Linnean Medal The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year. The medal was of gold until 1976, and ...

Selected publications

* ''Monographia Polygalacearum'', vol.1 1891, vol.2 1893. * 1898–1907 : ''Plantae Hasslerianae'' (with

).RAMELLA, L. & P. PERRET (2003b). Editores, autores y autoridades en la obra Plantae Hasslerianae de R. Chodat & E. Hassler. ''Candollea'' 58: 407-427. * ''Etude Critique et Experimentale sur le Polymorphisme des Algues'', 1909. * ''La Végétation du Paraguay. Résultats Scientifiques d'une Mission Botanique Suisse au Paraguay'', (with

Wilhelm Vischer Wilhelm Eduard Vischer (30 April 1895 in Davos – 27 November 1988 in Montpellier) was a Swiss pastor, theologian, Hebraist, Old Testament scholar and amateur Lied lyricist. One of his major areas of study was that of Christ in the Old Testa ...

1890–1960). * ''La biologie des plantes: Les plantes aquatiques'', 1917.

References

* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

Spanish Wikipedia The Spanish Wikipedia () is the Spanish-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. It has articles. Started in May 2001, it reached 100,000 articles on 8 March 2006, and 1,000,000 articles on 16 May 2013. It is the -largest Wikip ...

.''
Robert Chodat, Dictionnaire Historique Suisse (DHS)

HUH- Index of Botanical Publications

Notes

19th-century Swiss botanists Swiss pharmacists Phycologists Academic staff of the University of Geneva Members of the French Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Legion of Honour Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences 1865 births 1934 deaths 20th-century Swiss botanists {{Switzerland-botanist-stub