Anna Antoinette Weber-van Bosse (27 March 1852 – 29 October 1942) was a Dutch phycologist, specializing in marine

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

Life

Her interest in botany and zoology started at a young age, inspired by regular trips to the Amsterdam zoo. She attended the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

in 1880, where she was made to do her laboratory work in a room separate from the male students. Some of her greatest work comes from the ''Siboga'' Expedition, considered the most important expedition for marine phycology in the western Pacific for the nineteenth century. She ventured with her husband,

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

. These travels brought about numerous discoveries, including entire new

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

of algae, such as '' Periphykon'', '' Exophyllum'', and '' Microphyllum''. Much of her discoveries from this trip are documented in her

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

''Corallinaceae'' (1904), and her four-volume ''Liste des algues du Siboga'' (1913-1928). Some of her discoveries came during earlier expeditions to northern Norway and the East Indies. She discovered the genus '' Phytophysa'' and a form of symbiosis between algae and

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

s before she left for ''Siboga''. Much of her later work was done in her small home laboratory Huis Eerbeek, where several botanists would visit for consultation. Outside of marine biology, she worked with community child-care centers in Amsterdam. She received several awards for her work, including one of the country's highest honors, the Chevalier de l'ordre d'Orange-Nassau, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Utrecht. The bird species ''Dicaeum annae'' was named in her honour. She died on October 29, 1942, at the age of 90. An excerpt from Dr. Weber-van Bosse's ''The Corallinaceae of the Siboga - expedition'': “The Siboga had vainly tried to find a good anchorage on the east-side of Saleyer: the night advanced rapidly and therefore Commander Tvdeman resolved to anchor for the night on the above named coral bank, where he was sure to find from 8—10 m. water. How great was our astonishment the next morning when coming on deck, we saw a distinct red colour at the bottom of the sea regularly interrupted by narrow white bands. It was no coral bank on which we were lying but an enormous bank of ''Lithothamnia''. That gave a red colour to the bottom of the sea,” (Page 6). Published 1904.

Gallery

File:UvA-BC 300.426 - Siboga - de bemanning en de wetenschappelijke staf van de Siboga.jpg File:Route of the Siboga Expedition.jpg, Route of the Siboga Expedition. File:UvA-BC 300.406 - Siboga - Tello-rivier bij Makassar.jpg File:UvA-BC 300.054 - Siboga - Poeloe Barang, eilandje voor de kust bij Makassar (Pulau Barang).jpg File:UvA-BC 300.319 - Siboga - inheemse bewoners van Timor samen met het echtpaar Weber en een ander lid van de expeditie aan de oostkant van het eiland.jpg File:UvA-BC 300.177 - Siboga - Lithothamnion-knollen (knollen van kalkwieren) van de bank bij Haingsisi (Hainsisi) op Timor.jpg

Selected publications

The Corallinaceae of the Siboga-expedition
Weber-van Bosse, A. (Anna), - Fosalie, Mikal Hegġelund - 1904

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber-van Bosse, Anna 1852 births 1942 deaths 19th-century Dutch botanists 20th-century Dutch botanists Women marine biologists Women phycologists Dutch phycologists Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau University of Amsterdam alumni Scientists from Amsterdam 19th-century women scientists 20th-century women scientists