Marinus Anton Donk (14 August 1908 – 2 September 1972) was a Dutch mycologist. He specialized in the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

and

nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal naming conventions, conventions of everyday speech to the i ...

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the na ...

. Rolf Singer wrote in his obituary that he was "one of the most outstanding figures of contemporary mycology."

Early life

Donk was born in

Situbondo Situbondo Regency is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency ''(kabupaten)'' of East Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,638.50 km2, and had a population of 647,619 at the 2010 Census and 685,967 at the 2020 Census. It is located in ...

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

in 1908, and completed secondary school in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, Netherlands. He studied biology at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

, starting in 1927. As a graduate student in mycology he completed the work for his 1931 "Revisie van de Nederlandse Heterobasidiomyceteae" (Revision of the Dutch Heterobasidiomycetes). He completed his studies and attained a doctorate degree in 1933 with the second part of his work, ''Revisie van de Nederlandse Heterobasidiomyceteae II''. Afterwards he returned to Java, where he worked from 1934 to 1940 as a teacher, and, starting from 1941 as a

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

in 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 ...

of the Buitenzorg Botanical Garden. He was interned in a Japanese prison camp from 1942 to 1945. During his time there, he managed to culture

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

that grew in palm

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s in the camps; he used the yeast to ferment rice, which provided essential vitamins for the prisoners.

Career

Donk's main research area was on the

of the mushrooms, especially the

Aphyllophorales The Aphyllophorales is an obsolete order of fungi in the Basidiomycota. The order is entirely artificial, bringing together a miscellany of species now grouped among the clavarioid fungi, corticioid fungi, cyphelloid fungi, hydnoid fungi, and p ...

and

Heterobasidiomycetes Heterobasidiomycetes, including jelly fungi, smuts and rusts, are basidiomycetes with septate basidia. This contrasts them to homobasidiomycetes (alternatively called holobasidiomycetes), including most mushrooms and other Agaricomycetes, whic ...

. He was involved in the development of a modern system to classify the Aphyllophorales and influenced nomenclatural rules for mushrooms. Donk became Head of the Herbarium Bogoriense from 1947 to 1955, and a Deputy Professor at the

University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the D ...

in 1952. It was around this time when he became interested in nomenclature. After returning to Holland, he was the head of the Mycological Department at Rijksherbarium in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

from 1956 to 1972, and a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

from 1954 to 1960. Donk was also the president of the Nomenclature Committee of the

International Botanical Congress International Botanical Congress (IBC) is an international meeting of botanists in all scientific fields, authorized by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies (IABMS) and held every six years, with the location rotati ...

es, in the Committee for Fungi and Lichens. Together with his colleague

Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus Rudolf Arnold Maas Geesteranus (20 January 1911 in The Hague – May 18, 2003 in Oegstgeest), was a Dutch mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their ...

, Donk founded the journal ''

Persoonia ''Persoonia'', commonly known as geebungs or snottygobbles, is a genus of about one hundred species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. Plants in the genus ''Persoonia'' are shrubs or small trees usually with smooth bark, simple lea ...

'' in 1959. He was honoured in 1973, when 2 botanist published '' Donkioporia'', which is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

in the family Fomitopsidaceae.

Selected publications

*(1931) Revisie van de Nederlandse Heterobasidiomyceteae (uitgez. Uredinales en Ustilaginales) en Homobasidiomyceteae-Aphyllophraceae : I. (Revision of the Dutch Heterobasidiomycetes (except for the Uredinales and Ustilaginales) and Homobasidiomycetes: Aphyllophraceae) in Mededeelingen van de Nederlandsche Mycologische Vereeniging (Proceedings of the Dutch Mycological Association) 18:20 S. 67–200. *(1933) Revisie van de Nederlandse Heterobasidiomyceteae (uitgez. Uredinales en Ustilaginales) en Homobasidiomyceteae-Aphyllophraceae : II. in Mededeelingen van het Botanisch Museum en Herbarium van de Rijks Universiteit te Utrecht 9 S. 1–278. *(1949) New and revised nomina generica conservanda proposed for Basidiomycetes (Fungi) in Annales du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg (Annals of the Buitenzorg Botanical Garden) 3rd series, 18 S. 83–168. *(1949) Nomenclatural notes on generic names of agarics (Fungi: Agaricales) in Annales du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg (Annals of the Buitenzorg Botanical Garden) 3rd series, Bd. 18 S. 271–402 *(1959) Notes on Cyphellaceae: 1 in Persoonia 1 S. 25–110. *(1962) The generic names proposed for the Agaricaceae in Beihefte Nova Hedwigia (supplement to Nova Hedwigia) 5 S. 1–320. *(1962) Notes on Cyphellaceae: 2 in Persoonia 2 S. 331–348. *(1964) A conspectus of the families of Aphyllophorales in Persoonia 3 S. 199–324. *(1964) The generic names proposed for Polyporaceae in Persoonia 1 S. 173–302.

Taxa described

*'' Clavariadelphus'' Donk *'' Datronia'' Donk *'' Osteina'' Donk *''

Ramariopsis ''Ramariopsis'' is a genus of coral fungi in the family Clavariaceae. The genus has a collectively widespread distribution and contains about 40 species. The name means 'having the appearance of '' Ramaria. Taxonomy ''Ramariopsis'' was original ...

'' (Donk) Corner (as ''

Clavaria ''Clavaria'' is a genus of fungi in the family Clavariaceae. Species of ''Clavaria'' produce basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are either cylindrical to club-shaped or branched and coral-like. They are often grouped with similar-looking species f ...

'' subg. ''Ramariopsis'') *'' Thanatephorus'' Donk

Eponymous taxa

*''Donkella'' Doty 1950 (now '' Clavulinopsis'') *''Donkia'' Pilat 1937 (now ''

Climacodon ''Climacodon'' is a widespread genus of tooth fungi in the family Phanerochaetaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed by Finnish mycologist Petter Karsten in 1881 with ''Climacodon septentrionalis'' as the type species. This fungus was orig ...

'') *'' Donkioporia'' Kotl. & Pouzar 1973

References