Teodor Lippmaa (17 November 1892 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

– 27 January 1943 in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

) was a noted

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

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 ...

. He was the president of the

Estonian Naturalists' Society Estonian Naturalists' Society (, ELUS) is the oldest Estonia-based society of naturalists. It was founded in 1853, and since establishing has been the major scientific organisation focusing on natural history of Estonia. The society is based in ...

in 1939–1942. With Karl Eichwald (1889-1976) he edited the

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 ...

work ''Eesti Taimed - Estonian Plants'' (1933-1939) distributed by the Botanical Museum of the University of Tartu. There is a monument honoring him in

where he lived for much of his life. It was erected in 1982. Lippmaa was killed along with most of his family during a Soviet air raid in 1943. Lippmaa is buried at the

Rahumäe cemetery Rahumäe (Estonian for 'peace hill' or 'quiet hill') is a subdistrict () in the district of Nõmme, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It covers an area of and has a population of 3,075 (), and a population density of . Rahumäe has a railway sta ...

in Tallinn. He was the father of Endel Lippmaa, also a well-known scientist.

References

20th-century Estonian botanists 1892 births 1943 deaths Scientists from Riga Academic staff of the University of Tartu Members of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Protection of Natural Amenities Medal, Rank II Burials at Rahumäe Cemetery Civilians killed in World War II Deaths by Soviet airstrikes during World War II {{Estonia-botanist-stub