Frans Antonie Stafleu

Frans Antonie Stafleu (born September 8, 1921 in Velsen , Netherlands, † December 16, 1997 in Utrecht ) was a Dutch systematic botanist at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. His standard abbreviation as the author of plant names is " Stafleu ".

Live and act

Frans Antonie Stafleu grew up in a family that often had to change locations in the Netherlands because their father was a professional soldier. Even in his youth, Frans was interested in nature and studied the sociology of plants. His studies were severely affected by the Second World War . During this time he also met Charlotte AM Corporaal, whom he married in 1947. After graduation he dealt with the systematics of the family of the Vochysiaceae . His doctoral thesis was the monograph of Vochysia , a neotropical plant genus.

Then he did not go to the University of Leiden , where they wanted to employ him for the Flora Malesiana project, but to Joseph Lanjouw (1902–1984) at the University of Utrecht . He was employed here for the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT). From then on he was less concerned with the plants than with the botanists and their works. Today this organization awards the Stafleu Medal every three years for outstanding work on historical, bibliographical and / or nomenclature aspects of the plant systematics.

For decades he was the driving force behind the new journal Taxon as editor-in-chief , which under him became the leading journal for systematic botany. At the same time he founded the Regnum vegetabile series , which included the Herbariorum Index , a directory of herbaria from around the world and the botanists working there. The 8th edition was last published so far in 1990. In this series, lists of all collectors of plants were created (Regnum Vegetabile Volumes 2, 9, 86, 93, 109, 114, 117). He also started the Index nominum genericorum project, which lists all validly published genera of plants with their place of publication and type species. In this way, essential steps towards a future stability of the plant names were achieved. At the same time he prepared various international botanist congresses in the journal Taxon, so that the necessary resolutions for clarity for the International Code of the Nomenclature of Plants could be drawn up there. His most important work, however, was the 7-volume Taxonomic Literature: A Selective Guide to Botanical Publications and Collections, with Dates, Commentaries, and Types (2nd edition), which he edited together with Richard S. Cowan. All the important systematic botanists with their biographies and the exact publication dates of their works are compiled in it - a unique basis for all questions as to which name of two plant names is the older. After completing this work, Stafleu had to give up his further plans due to illness. The additional six (of eight) supplementary volumes of the letters A – E for this work were published in collaboration with Erik A. Mennega.

Fonts (selection)

• Ellen R. Farr, JA Leussink, FA Stafleu: Index nominum genericorum . 3 volumes. Regnum Vegetable Volume 100-102. 1979. (on this supplementary volume).
• FA Stafleu, RS Cowan: Taxonomic Literature: A Selective Guide to Botanical Publications and Collections, with Dates, Commentaries, and Types (2nd edition). 7 volumes 1976–1988. Utrecht / Antwerp. (on this a further 8 supplementary volumes).
• PK Holmgren, NH Holmgren, NC Barnett: Index Herbariorum . 8th edition, 1990. Regnum Vegetable Volume 120.

swell

• Aljos Farjon, Victor Westhoff, Gea Zijlstra: In Memory of Frans Stafleu (8 September 1921-16 December 1997) . In: Brittonia . Volume 50, Number 4, 1998, pp. 420-427 ( doi: 10.2307 / 2807750 ).
• Werner Greuter : Frans Antonie Stafleu (8 September 1921 - 16 December 1997) . In: Taxon . Volume 47, 1998, pp. 3-36.

Web links

• Author entry and list of the described plant names for Frans Antonie Stafleu at the IPNI