Arthur Maillefer

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Arthur Maillefer (born July 25, 1880 in Lausanne , † November 21, 1960 there ) was a Swiss botanist and geobotanist . Its botanical author abbreviation is « Maill. »

Life

Origin, education and doctorate

Maillefer was the son of the tobacco dealer Louis-Auguste Maillefer and Lina Maillefer, née Busam. He went to school in Lausanne, from which he graduated in 1900 with a bachelor's degree in science. He has been interested in plants since childhood.

He studied natural sciences with Ernest Wilczek (1867–1948) at the University of Lausanne . Together with Wilczek he took part in numerous excursions: to the Dauphiné , Piedmont , Ticino , Valais and all parts of the canton of Vaud . In 1903 he completed his studies with a licentiate . Maillefer was a member of the Swiss student union Helvetia .

Maillefer went to Freiburg im Breisgau and studied with Friedrich Oltmanns , a specialist in algology . After his return he became a research assistant at Wilczek. In 1906 he was on the subject of a study on the biometrics of the Diatoma grande W.Am. PhD .

Profession and positions

Maillefer taught in high school and business school for a few years , but his inclinations were more research.

From 1908 to 1912 Maillefer worked as a private lecturer at the University of Lausanne. There he held a position as a lecturer from 1912 to 1919 and was appointed associate professor in 1919. He gave lectures on genetics and plant physiology . In 1928 he became dean of the natural science faculty and held this office until 1930. From 1949 to 1950 he was a full professor of genetics, plant physiology and systematic and pharmaceutical botany.

Maillefer held the following additional offices:

  • 1922 President of the Société vaudoise des sciences naturelles
  • from 1933 to 1939 President of the Swiss Botanical Society
  • from 1938 to 1950 director of the Botanical Museum of the Canton of Vaud

Work areas

From 1907 Maillefer studied plant movement using mathematical methods. In his investigations he used methods of statistics and numerical analysis in biogeography . For example, he used a null model to demonstrate statistical effects on the generic coefficient according to Paul Jaccard (1868–1944). He contradicted Paul Jaccard's view in his dispute with Alvar Palmgren (1880-1960). Maillefer's statistical solution to the problem was confirmed in 1930 by the Hungarian mathematician George Pólya .

From 1914 he extended his investigations to the rise of the juice and the tissue structures associated with it . He also researched the plant species lady's mantle , valerian and horsetail .

Some plants were named after Maillefer, for example Alchemilla buseri Maill. , Alchemilla longinodis (Buser) Maill. and Allium nitens Sauzé & Maill.

family

Maillefer married Gabrielle-Alice Chevalley in 1912.

Publications

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Paul-Emile Pilet: Maillefer, Arthur. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Obituary during negotiations with the Swiss Natural Research Society. Scientific and Administrative Part, Volume 141, 1961. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  3. ^ Arthur Maillefer: Le coefficient générique de P. Jaccard et sa signification. In: Mémoires de la Société vaudoise des sciences naturelles. Société vaudoise des sciences naturelles, Volume 3, Issue 4 1929.
  4. ↑ George Pólya : A Probability Problem in Plant Sociology. In: Quarterly publication of the Natural Research Society in Zurich. No. 75, 1930, pp. 211-219 (PDF; 633 kB).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Maillefer, Arthur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss botanist and geobotanist
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Lausanne
DATE OF DEATH November 21, 1960
Place of death Lausanne