Richard Evans Schultes

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Richard E. Schultes (born January 12, 1915 in Boston , † April 10, 2001 in Boston ) was an American biologist . He is considered the "father of ethnobotany " and was a recognized luminary in the field of hallucinogenic and medicinal plants. Over the decades, Schultes has documented more than 2000 medicinal plants from the native American Indians in the Amazon region . Its official botanical author abbreviation is " RESchult. "; more than 120 species bear his name, including the orchid Pachyphyllum schultesii .

Life and work

Richard E. Schultes was born to German immigrants, a plumber and a housewife, in New England. When at the age of five he had to spend several months bedridden in his room due to a stomach ailment, he immersed himself in the notes of a botanist about the Amazon and the Andes from the pen of the British naturalist Richard Spruce . The book made such an impression on the child that Richard decided to follow in the namesake's footsteps.

Schultes received a Harvard scholarship and graduated with a research paper on the mind- altering effects of peyote on the Kiowa Indians in Oklahoma , who thus came into contact with their ancestors. For his doctoral thesis, he studied plants that were used by the Indians of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca . He also came across morning glory seeds , which contain LSA , a substance similar to LSD .

From 1941 Richard Schultes followed in the footsteps of his role model Richard Spruce and spent many months and years in the Amazon forests of Colombia . During this time he lived with the indigenous people, took part in their rituals and was able to examine curare , a highly concentrated arrow poison of the Indians, among other things .

Schultes was from 1953 curator of the Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium at Harvard University and from 1970 director of the Harvard Botanical Museum and Edward Jeffrey Professor of Biology .

reception

His studies of hallucinogens such as peyote and yage brought Richard E. Schultes' publications a lot of attention beyond the professional world. His findings also attracted some attention from representatives of the so-called counterculture, such as Aldous Huxley , William S. Burroughs and Carlos Castaneda , who propagated mind-altering drugs for self- and consciousness research. Schultes, on the other hand, despised the careless recreational use of Indian drugs; he was concerned with the medicinal benefits of the herbal ingredients.

Richard E. Schultes as a historical figure played an essential but fictional role in the Colombian adventure film The Shaman and the Snake from 2015. Schultes was portrayed in it by the actor Brionne Davis.

honors and awards

Fonts

  • 1976: Hallucinogenic Plants, illus. Elmer W. Smith. New York: Golden Press, ISBN 0-307-24362-1 .
  • 1979: with Albert Hofmann : Plants of the Gods: Origins of Hallucinogenic Use. New York: McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-056089-7 .
  • 1980: with Albert Hofmann: The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens, 2nd ed.Springfield , Ill .: Thomas, ISBN 0-398-03863-5 .
  • 1982, with William A. Davis and Hillel Burger: The Glass Flowers at Harvard. New York: Dutton, ISBN 0-525-93250-X .
  • 1988: Where the Gods Reign. Plants and Peoples of the Colombian Amazon. Oracle, Ariz .: Synergetic Press, ISBN 0-907791-13-1 .
  • 1990, with Robert F. Raffauf: The Healing Forest. Medicinal and Toxic Plants of the Northwest Amazonia. Portland, Or .: Dioscorides Press, ISBN 0-931146-14-3 .
  • 1992: with Robert F. Raffauf: Vine of the Soul. Medicine Men, Their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia. Oracle, Ariz .: Synergetic Press, ISBN 0-907791-24-7 .
  • 1995: with Siri von Reis (as editor): Ethnobotany: Evolution of a Discipline. Portland, Or .: Dioscorides Press, ISBN 0-931146-28-3 .
  • 1998: with Albert Hofmann (ed.) And Christian Rätsch (revision): Plants of the Gods. The magical powers of mind-expanding plants. With plant lexicon and overview of application , Aarau 1998, ISBN 3855026459 .

Web links

Commons : Richard Evan Schultes  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Jonathan Kandell: Richard E. Schultes, 86, Dies; Trailblazing Authority on Hallucinogenic Plants , obituary in: The New York Times, April 13, 2001. (English)
  2. ↑ Richard Evans Schultes, jungle botanist, died on April 10th, aged 86 In: The Economist of May 3, 2001. (English)
  3. ↑ Jonathan Kandell: Richard E. Schultes, 86, Dies , Obituary, April 13, 2001.
  4. ↑ http://www.global500.org/index.php/thelaureates/online-directory/item/199-richard-evans-schultes .
  5. ↑ Jonathan Kandell: Richard E. Schultes, 86, Dies , Obituary, April 13, 2001.
  6. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Schultes, Richard Evans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schultes, Richard E.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American botanist
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 2001
Place of death Boston