Richard Wettstein facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richard Wettstein
Richard Wettstein on a 1927 photo
Born	Anna Weinberg (1863-07-30)30 July 1863 Vienna, Austrian Empire
Died	10 August 1931(1931-08-10) (aged 68) Trins, First Austrian Republic
Nationality	Austrian
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Scientific career
Fields	Botany

Richard Wettstein (born June 30, 1863, in Vienna – died August 10, 1931, in Trins) was an important Austrian botanist. Botanists are scientists who study plants. He created a special way to group and organize plants, called the Wettstein system. This system was one of the first to group plants based on how they are related through evolution.

Early Life and Education

Richard Wettstein studied at the University of Vienna. There, he learned from a famous botanist named Anton Kerner von Marilaun. Richard Wettstein later married Anton's daughter, Adele.

In 1882, while he was a student, Wettstein and his friend Karl Eggerth started a group called the Natural Science Association. This group was led by students who loved science.

Professor and Explorer

Richard Wettstein became a professor at the University of Prague in 1892. Later, in 1899, he moved back to Vienna to teach at the University of Vienna. He also helped design and improve the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna.

In 1901, he became the president of a group called the Vienna Zoological-Botanical Society. In the same year, he went on a science trip to Brazil. This trip helped him learn more about plants from different parts of the world.

Later, in 1919, he became the vice-president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Toward the end of his life, from 1929 to 1930, he traveled with his son, Friedrich, to eastern and southern Africa.

Honoring His Work

Richard Wettstein's work was so important that some plants and fungi were named after him.

• The group of fungi called Wettsteinina is named in his honor.
• Also, a group of flowering plants from Brazil, called Wettsteiniola, is named after him. These plants belong to the family Podostemaceae.

In 1905, Richard Wettstein was a co-president of the International Botanical Congress. This was a big meeting of botanists from all over the world, held in Vienna.

Key Publications

Richard Wettstein wrote many important books and papers about plants. Here are a few of his well-known works:

• Nolanaceae, Solanaceae, Scrophulariaceae (1895): This work was part of a larger book and focused on specific plant families.
• Grundzüge der geographisch-morphologischen Methode der Pflanzensystematik (1898): This book explained the basic ideas of how to group plants based on where they grow and their shapes.
• Botanik Und Zoologie In Österreich in den Jahren 1850 Bis 1900 (1901): This book looked at the study of plants and animals in Austria between 1850 and 1900.
• Der Neo-Lamarckismus und seine Beziehungen zum Darwinismus (1903): This work discussed ideas about how living things change over time, comparing Neo-Lamarckism with Darwinism.

See also

In Spanish: Richard von Wettstein para niños

• Wettstein system