Werner Rodolfo Greuter (born 27 February 1938 in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

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 ...

, as a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

national) is a

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

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of the Editorial Committee for the ''

International Code of Botanical Nomenclature The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN or ICNafp) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all tho ...

'' (''ICBN'') - the ''Tokyo Code'' (1994) and the ''St Louis Code'' (2000). His proposed policy as regards registration of botanical names proved unpopular and in 1999 he stepped back, not being elected anew: he completed his term as chair to be succeeded at Vienna in 2005. He returned as a member of the editorial committee, contributing to the renamed

International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN or ICNafp) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all tho ...

, the "Melbourne Code" (2012).

Biography

Greuter went to schools in

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , ; ; is a municipality, a List of towns in Switzerland, historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its Three Castles of Bellinzona, three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello, Sa ...

and

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

, and received his PhD from the

University of Zürich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

in 1972. From 1972 to 1974 he was scientific director of the Goulandris Museum of Natural History in

Kifisia Kifisia or Kifissia (also Kephisia or Cephissia; , ) is a municipality and one of the most affluent northern suburbs in the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration, Attica, Greece, mainly accessed via Kifissias Avenue, running all the way f ...

, Athens, and edited its journal, ''Annales Musei Goulandris'' till 1976, being succeeded by W. T. Stearn. He was appointed on 1 April 1978 to his current position:

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 ...

of biology in the Institute of Biology at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

, Germany, and First Director of the University's Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum (BGBM) 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 ...

Awards

* Medal of Honour of the University of Crete, Rethymnon, 2010 * Doctorate honoris causa (Laurea specialistica ''

ad honorem ''Ad honorem'' is a Latin phrase that literally can be translated as "to the honor". When used today, it generally means "for the honor of"; that is, not seeking any material reward. It is commonly used in universities for certain unpaid teaching ...

'' in Biologia ed Ecologia vegetale), Università degli Studi di Palermo, 2010 * Premio Acuña Galé, Sociedad Cubana de Botánica, 2009 * Honorary Professorship (Categoría Docente Especial de Profesor Invitado), Universidad de La Habana, 2004 * Theophrastus Medal of Honour of the Hellenic Botanical Society, 2000 * IAPT Distinguished Services Award, 1999 * OPTIMA Gold Medal, 1998. * Distinguished Services Award, XVI International Botanical Congress, St Louis, Missouri

Eponymy

The plant species '' Epipactis greuteri'', '' Minuartia greuteriana'', '' Hieracium greuteri'', ''

Centaurea greuteri ''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding reg ...

'', '' Bupleurum greuteri'' and ''

Acanthus greuterianus Acanthus (: acanthus, rarely acanthuses in English, or acanthi in Latin), its feminine form acantha (plural: acanthae), the Latinised form of the ancient Greek word acanthos or akanthos, or the prefix acantho-, may refer to: Biology *Acanthus ...

'' are named after him. As well as ''

Greuteria ''Greuteria'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s belonging to the family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

and published in 2013.

References and external links

Prof. Greuter's page
a

Example of a combination published by Greuter: ''Dittrichia viscosa'' (L.) Greuter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greuter, Werner 1938 births Living people 20th-century Swiss botanists 21st-century Swiss botanists

Biography

Awards

Eponymy

See also

References and external links