Pierre Paul Ferdinand Mourier de Neergaard (February 19, 1907 – November 13, 1987) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

and

agriculturist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

. Paul Neergaard is considered the father of seed pathology and, along with Scottish seed pathologist Mary Noble coined the term in the 1940s.S.T. Nameth
Priorities in seed pathology research
Dept. of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Biography

Neergaard was training in seed pathology at the

Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University ( da, Kongelige Veterinær- og Landbohøjskole, abbr. KVL) was a veterinary and agricultural science university in Denmark. It was founded in 1856 and operated until 2007, when it became a part of t ...

Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

(B.Sc., 1932; Ph.D., 1935; Sc.D, 1945). He served as director of the Danish Government Institute of Seed Pathology for Developing Countries in Copenhagen. From 1956 to 1974 he served as the chairman of the Plant Disease Committee of the

International Seed Testing Association The International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) is an independent, non-profit organization founded during the 4th International Seed Testing Congress in 1924. Its members work to promote uniform methods of evaluating seeds being sold internation ...

(ISTA). During his tenure as the chair of the ISTA, he helped standardize methods for detecting seed-borne fungi. Neergaard authored a two-volume text entitled ''Seed Pathology'' (1977), that focused on a wide variety of seed pathology issues, ranging from the economic significance of seed-borne diseases to the assessment of seed-borne inoculum. It has served as a reference and teaching standard for the science of seed pathology throughout the world. Along with Mary Noble and Jo deTempe, he produced ''Annotated List of Seed-borne Diseases'' (4th edition, ISTA , 1990). Neergard was a professor at universities in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

(

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

) and

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

(

Karnataka, India Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

). and was a member of several national academies and international societies. Paul Neergard was an active promoter of the international language

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

. He was a member of the

Academy of Esperanto The Akademio de Esperanto (AdE; en, Academy of Esperanto, link=yes) is an independent body of Esperanto speakers who steward the evolution of said language by keeping it consistent with the ''Fundamento de Esperanto'' in accordance with the Decl ...

and published several books in that languageBooks by and about Paul Neergaard
about science and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

Selected works

*''Seed Pathology'' (John Wiley & Sons, 1977) *''Annotated List of Seed-borne Diseases'' (4th edition, ISTA , 1990) *''1.-15. Årsberetning fra J. E. Ohlsens Enkes plantepatologiske laboratorium''.

In Esperanto

*''Atakoj kontraŭ ĝardenplantoj'' *''La vivo de la plantoj'' (The life of plants) *''Terminaro Hortikultura'' (in six languages) *''Eta Krestomatio'' *''Tra Densa Mallumo'' *''Fremdvortoj en Esperanto'' *''Scienco kaj Pseŭdoscienco pri Heredo kaj Raso'

*''La Esperantologio kaj ties Disciplinoj. Taskoj kaj Rezultoj''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neergaard, Paul 1907 births 1987 deaths People from Nyborg Danish agronomists Danish mycologists Danish Esperantists 20th-century biologists 20th-century agronomists