Johannes Hendrikus Kern (1903–1974) was a Dutch botanist, with an international reputation as an expert on the
Cyperaceae
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...
(the sedge family).
Kern graduated from a secondary school in Nijmegen in 1922 with a diploma qualifying him as a teacher. He received further diplomas: in 1927 for head-teacher, in 1928 for French, and in 1933 for German. He was an elementary school teacher from 1922 to 1927 at Mill, and from 1927 to 1940 at Vlaardingen. He was a head-teacher from 1940 to 1942 at
Dedemsvaart
Dedemsvaart ("Dedem's Canal") (Dutch Low Saxon: ''De Voart'') is a town in Overijssel, the Netherlands.
Overview
The town is located along an old canal, also called , which is the source of the village's name. The canal lost its commercial imp ...
, from 1942 to 1946 at Gorinchem, and from 1946 to 1949 at Nijmegen. From his youth he studied botany and, in particular, the flora of the Netherlands. In 1924 he published a paper on Netherlands plants belonging to the genus '' Carex''. Impressed by Kern's presentations at meetings of the Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands, van Stennis in 1949 offered Kern employment at the Bogor Botanical Gardens. Kern eagerly accepted and
first worked on a revision of the ''
Viburnum
''Viburnum'' is a genus of about 150–175 species of flowering plants in the moschatel family Adoxaceae. Its current classification is based on molecular phylogeny. It was previously included in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae.
The membe ...
'' Malesia part of the multi-volume '' Flora Malesiana'' and then worked on a revision of the sedge family part of ''Flora Malesiana''. He returned from
Bogor
Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.Rijksherbarium. In June 1957 he became a staff member of the Rijksherbarium, where he worked on the Cyperaceae of Malesia and nearby regions. In August 1961 he gave a lecture ''New Look at Cyperaceae'' at the Norwich Meeting of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
. In January 1969 Kern officially retired from the Rijksherbarium and was appointed an honorary collaborator there. In 1970 the
University of Nijmegen
Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...