Eichler, Hansjörg (1916 - 1992)

Summary

Hansjörg Eichler was a botanist who worked for the Herbarium of South Australia and authored several works. The Herbarium holds a small collection of some of his correspondences. A Hansjörg Eichler Research Fund was established by the Australian Systematic Botany Society in his honour. Eichler published many plant species in various genera, and South Australian botany in general.

Details

Hansjörg Eichler held several positions in European herbaria in the post-war period where his research centred on what became a life-long interest in hydrophytes, particularly the genera Ranunculus and Hydrocotyle. In 1955 he was appointed Keeper of the South Australian state Herbarium, arriving to find a moribund institution. With his rigorous grounding in classical taxonomic and traditional herbarium procedures he determined to bring the Adelaide Herbarium up to international standards and respected in international scientific circles. His nomenclatural expertise was greatly relied on by other botanists in Australia. In his taxonomic work Eichler took an Australia-wide perspective, somewhat unusual in the state-based herbaria in Australia at the time. He was strong advocate for the publication of a new flora of Australia, serving on various committees which led to the establishment of the Australian Biological Resources Study and the eventual Flora of Australia project. Volume 18 of the Flora of Australia is dedicated to him. In 1993 the Australian Systematic Botany Society established the Hansjörg Research Fund in his honour. His personal herbarium of over 24,000 specimens in now in the State Herbarium of South Australia and the Australian National Herbarium.

Chronology

1950

Education - Dr. rer. nat., University of Halle-Wittemberg

1955

Life event - Arrived in Adelaide

1955 - 1972

Career position - Keeper, State Herbarium of South Australia

1959

Award - Hon PhD, University of Adelaide

1961 - 1962

Career position - Australian Botanical Liaison Officer, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

1965

Taxonomy event - Moved Eucalyptus incrassate var. protrusa J.M.Black to variety of E. brachycalyx var. protrusa (J.M.Black) H.Eichler

1965 - 1975

Career position - Honorary Lecturer in Botany, University of Adelaide

1968 - 1992

Career position - Member, Committee for Spermatophyta, International Association for Plant Taxonomy

1972 - 1975

Career position - Member, Editorial Committee, World Pollen and Spore Flora

1972 - 1977

Career position - Member, Advisory Committee, Australian Journal of Botany

1973 - 1981

Career position - Curator, Herbarium Australiense, CSIRO Division of Plant Industry

1974 - 1992

Career position - Member, Editorial Board, Index Holmensis

1975 - 1981

Career position - Member, Committee for Nomina Conservanda, International Association for Plant Taxonomy

1977 - 1982

Career position - Chair, Editorial Board, Brunonia

1979

Award - Willdenow Medal, Berlin-Dahlem Herbarium, Germany

1980 - 1985

Career position - Editorial committee, Flora of Australia

1982 - 1987

Career position - Member, Special Committee for Orthography, International Association for Plant Taxonomy

Related entries

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Smith, Ailie; Moje, Christine; Rigby, Rebecca, The Study of Australian Eucalypts, eScholarship Research Centre, 2013, http://www.eoas.info/eucalypts/index.html. Details

Books

• Eichler, Hansjorg, Supplement to J.M. Black's Flora of South Australia (second edition, 1943-1957) (Adelaide: British Science Guild, South Australian Branch, 1965), 385 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Conn, B.J., 'Dr Hans-Jörg Eichler, on the occasion of his retirement', Australian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 26 (1981), 18-43. Details
• Orchard, A. E, 'Hansjörg Eichler (1916-1992)', Taxon, 44 (1995), 271-8. Details
• Orchard, Tony, 'Memories of Hansjörg Eichler', Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 165 (2015), 49-53. Details
• Robertson, Enid L., 'Hansjörg Eichler 1 April 1916 - 22 June 1992', Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, 15 (81-5) (1993). Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4530123. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/32459507. Details
• 'Eichler, Hansjörg (1916-1992)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-612519. Details

See also

• 'Eucalyptus brachycalyx var. protrusa (J.M.Black) H.Eichler (1965)', Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), Australian National Botanic Gardens, 2012, http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?taxon_id=19104. Details
• Fagg, Murray, 'Eichler, Hansjörg (1916 - 1992)', Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators, Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria (CHAH), 2010, https://anbg.gov.au/biography/eichler-hansjoerg.html. Details