Johannes Paulus Lotsy or Jan Paulus Lotsy (11 April 1867 – 17 November 1931) was a Dutch

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 ...

, specializing in

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

and

heredity Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

. He promoted the idea of evolution being driven by hybridization.

Career

Lotsy was born into a wealthy family in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

and went to study at the Wageningen Agricultural College where his teachers included Martinus Beijerinck and then at the

Göttingen University Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The orig ...

(1886-1890) where he studied lichens for his doctorate. He then went to

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

(1891–1895) as a lecturer and also served as director of the

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

. From 1896 to 1900 he was sent to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

to work on cinchona research. He returned after suffering from malaria and then taught at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

(1904-1909), as a lecturer in Systematic Botany. He became director of the State Herbarium ( Rijksherbarium) 1906–1909, then Secretary of the Hollandsche Maatschappij van Wetenschappen. Lotsy founded the Association internationale des Botanistes and was editor of the ''Botanisches Centralblatt'' and the ''Progressus rei botanicae''. He proposed a system of plant classification, based on phylogenetics. Lotsy argued for a major role of

hybridization Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

in evolution including claims for human evolution. Lotsy died at

Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 people ...

following a surgery.

Travels

India (1895–1900), the United States (1922), Australia and New Zealand (1925), South Africa (1926–27), and Egypt (1930). He also studied the flora of Italy and Switzerland.

Publications

* 1928. ''Voyages of exploration to judge of the bearing of hybridization upon evolution (Genetica : nederlandsch tijdschrift voor erfelijheids- en afstammingsleer)''. Ed. M. Nijhoff * 1922a. ''Van den Atlantischen Oceaan naar de Stille Zuidzee'' * 1922b. ''A popular account of evolution''. The Cawthron institute, Nelson, Nueva Zelanda. Cawthron lecture. Ed. R.W. Stiles & Co. 22 pp. * 1915. ''Het Tegenwoordige Standpunt der Evolutie-leer * 1911. ''Série IIIA. Sciences exactes. 1–4. Rédigées par J. P. Lotsy * 1906a. ''Résultats scientifiques du Congrès international de botanique, Vienne, 1905. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse des Internationalen botanischen Kongresses, Wien, 1905 ... Redigiert von J. P. Lotsy ... Mit ... 1 Karte, etc * 1906b. ''Vorlesungen über Deszendenztheorien, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der botanischen Seite der Frage, gehalten an der Reichsuniversität zu Leiden, etc. * 1899. ''Rhopalocnemis Phalloides Jungh: A morphological-systematical study''. Ed. E.J. Brill * 1898. ''Contributions to the life-history of the genus Gnetum''. Ed. E.J. Brill * 1894. ''A contribution to the investigation of the assimilation of free atmospheric nitrogen by white and black mustard''. Bulletin / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations. G.P.O. 19 pp.

Books

* 2008. ''Evolution By Means Of Hybridization''. Reeditado Maudsley Press. 176 pp. * 1928. ''A Popular Account of Evolution '' * 1925. ''Evolution considered in the light of Hybridization''. Ed. Canterbury College by Andrews, Baty & Co. 66 pp. * 1916
''Evolution by Means of Hybridization''
The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 166 pp. * 1907–1911. ''Vorträge über botanische Stammesgeschichte gehalten an der Reichsuniversität zu Leiden. Ein Lehrbuch der Pflanzensystematik. In drei Bände''. Jena, Verlag von Gustav Fischer. With illustrations. ** I
Algen und Pilze
(Thallophyta) Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1907. ** II

** III.

System

Lotsy argued that the monocotyledons were diphyletic, with the Spadiciflorae being derived from the dicotyledons (specifically Piperales) and the remainder from a hypothetical ancestor, the Proranales. John Hutchinson (botanist), Hutchinson, who argued for a monophyletic origin, considered this improbable.

Synopsis

''Vorträge über botanische Stammesgeschichte'' * Volume 3: Cormophyta Siphonogamia Part 1 ** Monocotyledons vol 3(1) p. 514–564, 625–864 *** Spadiciflorae p. 514–564 **** Araceae **** Lemnaceae **** Cyclanthaceae **** Palmaceae **** Pandanaceae **** Sparganiaceae **** Typhaceae **** Alismataceae **** Butomaceae **** Hydrocharitaceae **** Scheuchzeriaceae **** Zosteraceae **** Posidoniaceae **** Aponogetonaceae **** Potamogetonaceae **** Najadaceae **** Altheniaceae **** Cymodoceaceae **** Triuridaceae *** Enantioblastae p. 693-714 **** Commelinaceae **** Mayacaceae **** Xyridaceae **** Eriocaulaceae **** Centrolepidaceae **** Restionaceae **** Pontederiaceae *** Liliiflorae, Liliifloren p. 715–766, 792–834 **** Liliaceae 714 **** Melanthiaceae 717 **** Asphodelaceae 722 **** Aloinaceae 725 **** Eriospermaceae 730 **** Johnsoniaceae 731 **** Agapanthaceae 732 **** Alliaceae **** Gilliesiaceae 734 **** Tulipaceae 735 **** Scillaceae 741 **** Asparagaceae 743 **** Dracaenaceae 749 **** Smilaceae 759 **** Luzuriagaceae 760 **** Ophiopogonaceae **** Lomandraceae 761 **** Dasypogonaceae 763 **** Calectasiaceae 764 **** Juncaceae **** Flagellariaceae 765 **** Stemonaceae (Roxburghiaceae) 792 **** Cyanastraceae 793 **** Iridaceae 794 ***** Crocoideae ***** Iridoideae 796 ***** Ixioideae 799 **** Haemodoraceae 800 **** Amaryllidaceae 801, 811 **** Hypoxidaceae **** Velloziaceae, Vellosiaceae 802 **** Agavaceae 806 **** Bromeliaceae 814 **** Dioscoreaceae 823 **** Taccaceae 826 **** Burmanniaceae, Burmanniaceen 829 *** Glumiflorae, Glumifloren p. 767–791 **** Cyperaceae **** Graminaceae *** Scitamineae p. 835–864 **** Musaceae **** Cannaceae **** Zingiberaceae **** Marantaceae **** Orchidaceae ** Index p. 952

References

Bibliography

*
Volume 2
at Internet Archive *
''Nature'' obituary

External links

1867 births 1931 deaths Scientists from Dordrecht Dutch botanists {{netherlands-botanist-stub