Paul Frédéric Culmann (23 February 1860,

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

– 27 November 1936,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a Swiss

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

known for contributions made in the field of

bryology Bryology (from Greek , a moss, a liverwort) is the branch of botany concerned with the scientific study of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts). Bryologists are botanists who have an active interest in observing, recording, classifying ...

Biography

From 1878 to 1882 he studied physics at the Eidgenössischen Polytechnikum in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, then continued his education in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he earned his PhD in 1885. Following graduation, he was employed at the "Maison Bréguet" in

(1885–93), and later worked as an instructor of physics and mathematics at the Technikum Winterthur (1893–98).Paul Frédéric Culmann (23.2.1860-27.11.1936)
Geschichte der Bryologie in der Schweiz (bibliography included) Afterwards, he returned to Paris, where he was associated with work done at the "Maison

Carl Zeiss Carl Zeiss (; 11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Zeiss (company), Zeiss. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted p ...

".BHL
Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications

Research

Culmann was considered one on the leading Swiss bryologists during the early part of the 20th century. He collected thousands of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

specimens in Switzerland, mostly in the cantons of

and

Berne Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the '' de facto'' capital of Switzerland, referred to as the " federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has governmental i ...

. During his career, he also collected extensively in France. In regards to the canton of Zurich, he published a directory of its mosses (1901), and later issued a listing of

liverwort Liverworts are a group of non-vascular land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry ...

s native to the canton (1906). Furthermore, he was the author of numerous papers on findings from the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...

, the

canton of Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts and its capital city is Bellinzo ...

and also from France. As a

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...

he described more than 20 species, subspecies and varieties that were new to science. The moss species ''Bryum culmannii'' is named after him, being circumscribed by Karl Gustav Limpricht in 1892.

Partial bibliography

* 1901 ''Verzeichnis der Laubmoose des Kantons Zürich''. — Mitteilungen der Naturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft in Winterthur 3: 3–79. * 1903 ''Notes bryologiques sur les flores du canton de Zurich et des environs de Paris'', — Revue Bryologique 30: 89–92. * 1905 ''Contributions à la flore bryologique du canton de Bern''. — Revue Bryologique 32: 73–79. * 1906 ''Liste des Hépatiques du canton de Zurich'' — Revue Bryologique 33: 75–84. * 1906 ''Contributions à la flore bryologique Suisse''. — Revue Bryologique 33: 75–84. * 1908 ''Contributions à la flore bryologique Suisse et principalement à celle de l'Oberland bernois''. — Revue Bryologique 35: 19–28. * 1915 ''Contribution à la flore bryologique du canton du Tessin'', — Bulletin de la societé botanique de France 62, 4,15: 53-58. With Jules Amann and Charles Meylan, he was co-author of ''Flore des mousses de la Suisse'', (

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

: Imprimeries R'eunies S.A., 1912).Online Books Page
Flore des mousses de la Suisse

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culmann, Paul Frederic 1860 births 1936 deaths Scientists from Zurich Bryologists 19th-century Swiss botanists 20th-century Swiss botanists