Carl Christian Mez (26 March 1866 – 8 January 1944) was a German

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 ...

and university professor. He is denoted by the author abbreviation Mez when citing a

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Interna ...

Life and work

Mez came from a family of industrialists in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

. He was a grandchild of the entrepreneur and politician Karl Christian Mez (1808–1877). As a high-school student he was interested in botany, and wrote a technical paper regarding a hybrid '' Inula''. In 1890, Mez married Therese (Thea) Jensen (1867–1937), the daughter of poet

Wilhelm Jensen Wilhelm Hermann Jensen (15 February 183724 November 1911) was a German writer and poet. Biography Wilhelm Jensen was born at Heiligenhafen in the Duchy of Holstein (now Germany), the illegitimate son of Swenn Hans Jensen (1795–1855), the Ma ...

. They had 5 children together. Through their oldest daughter's marriage, they became parents-in-law to psychologist Narziß Ach. He first studied at the university in his hometown from 1883 to 1884, and then moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

for one semester before returning in 1886 to Freiburg. He wrote his thesis at Berlin, on the

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur m ...

(the Laurel family), and received his Ph.D. from there. After completing his degree, Mez worked briefly at the Berlin Botanical Museum, then moved to Breslau where he worked as a private lecturer. In 1900, Mez became Professor of Systematic Botany and Pharmaceutical Studies in

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hal ...

, and in 1910 he became Professor of Plant-physiology and Director of the Botanical Gardens near

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...

. He was made Professor Emeritus in 1935. Mez was founder of the Botanical Archives, and, until 1938, publisher as well. His main areas of research were systematics and physiology. He continued to study the taxonomy and morphology of the Lauraceae, and introduced the use of

serology Serology is the scientific study of serum and other body fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the diagnostic identification of antibodies in the serum. Such antibodies are typically formed in response to an infection (against a given mic ...

as a method of studying plant relationships. Also, he studied

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogen ...

, and wrote about

dry rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...

. The plant genera ''

Mezia ''Mezia'' is a genus in the Malpighiaceae, a family of about 75 genera of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales. ''Mezia'' comprises 10 species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxo ...

'' ( Schwacke ''ex''

Nied. Franz Josef Niedenzu (29 November 1857 – 30 September 1937) was a German botanist born in Köppernig. He is remembered for his work with the botanical family Malpighiaceae. For most of his career he was a professor and subsequently rector a ...

), ''

Meziella ''Myriophyllum'' (water milfoil) is a genus of about 69 species of freshwater aquatic plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The center of diversity for ''Myriophyllum'' is Australia with 43 recognized species (37 endemic). These submersed aq ...

'' ( Schindl.) and ''

Neomezia ''Neomezia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Primulaceae. It only contains one known species, ''Neomezia cubensis'' (Radlk.) Votsch It is also in the subfamily of Theophrastoideae. It is native to Cuba. The gen ...

'' (family

Primulaceae The Primulaceae , commonly known as the primrose family (but not related to the evening primrose family), are a family of herbaceous and woody flowering plants including some favourite garden plants and wildflowers. Most are perennial though som ...

) were all named in his honor.

Writings (selected)

* ''Lauraceae Americanae, monographice descripsit / - Berlin, 1889. Jahrbuch des königlichen botanischen Gartens und des botanischen Museums; Bd. 5'' * ''Das Mikroskop und seine Anwendung : ein Leitfaden bei mikroskopischen Untersuchungen für Apotheker, Aerzte, Medicinalbeamte, Techniker, Gewerbtreibende etc.- 8., stark verm. Aufl. - Berlin : 1899'' * ''Myrsinaceae''. Leipzig .a.1902. * ''Mikroskopische Untersuchungen, vorgeschrieben vom Deutschen Arzneibuch : Leitfaden für das mikroskopisch-pharmakognostische Praktikum an Hochschulen und für den Selbstunterricht - Berlin : 1902'' * ''Theophrastaceae - Leipzig .a.: 1903'' * ''Der Hausschwamm und die übrigen holzzerstörenden Pilze der menschlichen Wohnungen : ihre Erkennung, Bedeutung und Bekämpfung''. Dresden 1908. * ''Die Haftung für Hausschwamm und Trockenfäule: eine Denkschrift für Baumeister, Hausbesitzer und Juristen ...''. Berlin 1910. * ''Zur Theorie der Sero-Diagnostik - Berlin: Dt. Verl.-Ges. für Politik und Geschichte, 1925'' * ''Drei Vorträge über die Stammesgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt mit 1 Stammbaum des Pflanzenreichs / 1925'' * ''Theorien der Stammesgeschichte - Berlin : Deutsche Verl.-Ges für Politik und Geschichte, 1926'' * ''Versuch einer Stammesgeschichte des Pilzreiches''. Halle (Saale) 1928. * ''Bromeliaceae''. Leipzig 1935.

References

* F. Butzin (1968): ''Carl Mez, ein Leben für die Botanik''. Willdenowia 4: 401-415. * Ilse Jahn (2000): ''Geschichte der Biologie''. Spektrum

External links

Literature about and by Carl Christian Mez in the catalog of the Deutschen NationalbibliothekList of plants described by Carl Christian Mez (IPNI)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mez, Carl Christian German taxonomists 1866 births 1944 deaths Botanists with author abbreviations Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Freiburg alumni Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg faculty University of Breslau faculty University of Königsberg faculty Scientists from Freiburg im Breisgau People from the Grand Duchy of Baden 19th-century German botanists 20th-century German botanists