Adam Maurizio
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Adam Maurizio was a Swiss
botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
, specialist of food technology and cultural history, born 26 September 1862 in
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
and died 4 March 1941 in Liebefeld near
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...
. He gained international recognition for his works on the history of plant food.


Biography

Adam Maurizio came from a well-known family du canton of
Grisons The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cant ...
. As did many Swiss citizens in the 19th century, his father emigrated to the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
about 1850. He had a confectioner's shop in Kraków. Adam Maurizio was born there in 1862 as a Swiss citizen. He went to the public school in Kraków, but was later excluded due to political problems. From 1883, he resides in Switzerland, where he follows the colleges in
Chur , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers , twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxembourg), ...
and
Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...
. He then studies biological sciences, and particularly botany, from the year 1888 on at the
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
,
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
and
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...
universities. In 1894, he obtains a thesis of the Bern university on '' Saprolegnia''. At the same time, he obtains his license of secondary teaching. Once his diplomas obtained, Maurizio taught natural sciences, in several schools. In 1896, he becomes research assistant in plant physiology and pathology at the research station of Wädenswil. He dedicates his researches above all to the raw plant materials, bakery and forages. In his works, he constantly benefited from the support of the Berlinese botanist
Ludwig Wittmack Carl Ludwig Max Wittmack (26 September 1839 in Hamburg – 2 February 1929 in Berlin) was a German botanist. Wittmack studied botany at the University of Jena (1864) and at the University of Berlin (1865). He received his doctorate degree i ...
, whose assistant he was at a time. In 1900, Maurizio becomes assistant in botanical research in the research centre of agricultural chemistry in Zürich. With his already published scientific works, he obtained his habilitation in the Zürich university in 1903 and his ''venia legendi'' (right to teach) in technical botany. As a ''Privatdozent'', he gave courses and made him known through many conferences on Swiss agriculture. In Autumn 1907, Maurizio was nominated professor of botany and plant technology at the High technical school of Lemberg ( Lvov), where he worked until his retirement in 1923. He spent his first retirement years in Bromberg (
Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...
). In 1927, he was nominated emeritus professor at the Faculty of pharmacy of the Warsaw university. But he could exercise his teaching duties only in a limited way, as he had eye problems. He came back to Switzerland in 1935, where he lived until his death in Liebefeld near Bern. Maurizio's daughter,
Anna Maurizio Anna Maurizio (26 November 1900 – 24 July 1993) was a Swiss biologist who studied bees. She worked for more than three decades in the Department of Bees at the Liebefeld Federal Dairy Industry and Bacteriological Institute, where she dev ...
(1900–1993), was an internationally recognised researcher in apiculture, who also lived in Liebefeld.


Research fields

Soon after his student times, Maurizio changed orientation, shifting from scientific botany to applied botany. From 1900 on, he focused his research activity on the technology and physiology of cereals and their products. Particularly useful to bakery were his experiment results, when he endeavoured to quantify the evaluation of the suitability of wheat flours to bread-making, which had been empirical for long. The first synthesis of his works was published in 1903 under the title "''Getreide, Mehl und Brot''" (Paul Parey, Berlin). In 1909 followed "''Die Müllerei und Bäckerei'' " and in 1917/199 his two-volume book "''Die Nahrungsmittel aus Getreide''" (2nd edition 1924/1926). His intensive work on the technological aspects of cereal transformation led Maurizio to put more and more emphasis in the historical evolution of food products. In his 1916 book "''Die Getreide-Nahrung im Wandel der Zeiten''", he describes what had been until then a professional domain with the point of view of cultural history and
ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
. The fruit of many historical researches and field data was his master work, "''Die Geschichte unserer Pflanzennahrung von den Urzeiten bis zur Gegenwart''", published in 1927. This is the only book translated to French in 1932, with the title ''Histoire de l'alimentation végétale depuis la préhistoire jusqu'à nos jours''. It was never translated to English. This first scientifically based global panorama on world food history gave Maurizio an international reputation as a historian of technology. With his central thesis that each step of agriculture involves a particular form of
food system The term food system describes the interconnected systems and processes that influence nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients ...
, and with his interdisciplinary point of view, he opened new research lines for ethnography, history and geography of agriculture. One of the best recensions of this book and its signification for agricultural geography was issued by the historian
Richard Krzymowski Richard Krzymowski (5 September 1875 - 26 August 1960) was a German agricultural scientist. His main research interests were agricultural geography and agricultural history. Krzymowski's main work is "History of German Agriculture" an exemplary ...
in 1929 in the "''Landwirtschaftlichen Jahrbüchern''". Maurizio dedicated his last fifteen years of life entirely to the cultural history of human food. Among the publications of this period of work, let us cite "''Geschichte der gegorenen Getränke''" published in 1933. Maurizio's bibliography includes more than 120 publications, many in Polish. As one of his thoroughly documented and well written syntheses, let us note his last publication in 1939 "''Die pflanzliche Ernährung in Hungerszeiten, auf Grund von eigenen Erfahrungen in Osteuropa''".


Publications

*1894. ''Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte und Systematik der Saprolegnieen''. Diss. phil. Univ. Bern. he development and systematics of ''Saprolegnia'' *1902. ''Die Backfähigkeit des Weizens und ihre Bestimmung''. In: Landwirtschaftliche Jahrbücher, tome 31, pp. 179–234, 3 tableaux. Tiré à part. heat suitability for bread-making and its evaluation *1903. ''Getreide, Mehl und Brot. Ihre botanischen, chemischen und physikalischen Eigenschaften, hygienisches Verhalten, sowie ihre Beurteilung und Prüfung. Handbuch zum Gebrauche in Laboratorien und zum Selbstunterricht für Chemiker, Müller, Bäcker, Botaniker und Landwirte''. Berlin, Paul Parey. [Cereals, flour and bread. Their botanical, chemical and physical characteristics, their nutritional content, as well as their evaluation and analysis. Manual for laboratories and the personal researches of chemists, millers, bakers, botanists and farmers]. *1908. ''Kraftfuttermittel''. Verlag Jänecke Hannover = Bibliothek der gesamten Landwirtschaft vol. 51. [Energy-rich forages]
on line at the University of Dusseldorf
*1909. ''Die Müllerei und Bäckerei''. Hannover, Jänecke. Bibliothek der gesamten Landwirtschaft vol. 41. illing and bread-making *1916. ''Die Getreide-Nahrung im Wandel der Zeiten''. Zürich, Orell Füssli. ereal food in history *1917-1919. ''Die Nahrungsmittel aus Getreide''. Verlag Paul Parey Berlin, vol. 1, 1917; vol. 2, 1919; 2e ed. ebd. vol. 1, 1924, vol. 2 1926. he cereal food products *1926. ''Pożywienie roślinne i rolnicstwo w rozwoju dziejowym'' lant food and agriculture in the course of history Varsaw. *1927. ''Die Geschichte unserer Pflanzennahrung von den Urzeiten bis zur Gegenwart''. Berlin, Paul Parey. he history of our plant food from prehistory to our times *1931. Maurizzio (sic) A., Histoire de l'alimentation végétale chez l'Homme. ''Revue de botanique appliquée et d'agriculture coloniale'', 11(115): 159-168
doi : 10.3406/jatba.1931.4968on line on Persée
* 1932. ''Histoire de l'alimentation végétale depuis la préhistoire jusqu'à nos jours''. Trad. par F. Gidon. Paris, Payot. 664 p. On line version o
Pl@ntUse
*1933. ''Geschichte der gegorenen Getränke''. Verlag Paul Parey . – Reprint Sändig, Wiesbaden/Vaduz: 1970, 1982 et 1993. istory of fermented drinks *1939. ''Die pflanzliche Ernährung in Hungerszeiten, auf Grund von eigenen Erfahrungen in Osteuropa''. In: Mitteilungen der Berner Naturforschenden Gesellschaft für das Jahr1939. pp. 50–68. lant food in times of hunger, on the basis of personal experiments in Eastern Europe * 2019. ''Histoire de l'alimentation végétale depuis la préhistoire jusqu'à nos jours''. Trad. par F. Gidon. Préface de Claude Aubert. Introduction et compléments de Michel Chauvet. Reprint of the 1932 edition. Paris, Ulmer (Collection : ''Vieilles Racines et Jeunes Pousses''). 688 p.


Taxonomist


References

*Monique Chastanet, 2022. Adam Maurizio’s History of Plant Food: A Resource for Today. Book review of the 2019 reprint
Online on Pl@ntUse
The French version (compte rendu) is o
HAL-SHS
* R. Krzymowski. ''Das Werk von A. Maurizio "Die Geschichte unserer Pflanzennahrung von den Urzeiten bis zur Gegenwart" (1927)''. In: Landwirtschaftliche Jahrbücher Bd. 68, 1929 : 525-536 (with a short biography). * R. Krzymowski. ''Adam Maurizio †, seine Bedeutung für die Landwirtschaftsgeographie, insbesondere für die Geschichte der Getreidenutzung''. In: Zeitschrift für Erdkunde Jg. 9, 1941 : 688-690. * R. Krzymowski. ''Adam Maurizio †''. In: Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Literatur der Landwirtschaft Bd. 41, 1942 : 1-2. * A. Volkart. ''† Professor Dr. Adam Maurizio''. In: Schweizerische Landwirtschaftliche Monatshefte Jg. 19, 1941 : 155-156 (with a portrait before p. 155). * A. Volkart: ''Adam Maurizio (1862–1941)''. In: Verhandlungen der Schweizerischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft Bd. 121, 1941, S. 389–394 (with a portrait before p. 389 and a list of publications). * Note: ''largely translated from German and French Wikipedia''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maurizio, Adam Swiss ethnologists 1862 births 1941 deaths 19th-century Swiss botanists 20th-century Swiss botanists 19th-century Swiss historians 20th-century Swiss historians Academic staff of ETH Zurich Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Switzerland