Pieter Groenhart (February 21, 1894 – November 3, 1965) was a Dutch lichenologist known for his research into tropical Asian
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Ilpendam
Ilpendam is a village in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is a part of the municipality of Waterland, and lies about 4 km south of Purmerend. It covers an area of 2.46 km2 (0.95 sq mi) and had 1,780 inhabitants in 2008. Ilp ...
, he became a teacher in 1916 and taught in several local elementary schools. In 1926 he moved 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 ...
, where he became a teacher at the Agricultural School in
Malang
Malang (; ) is a landlocked List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of Singhasari, Singhasari Kingdom. It is the second most popul ...
, from 1926 to 1932. Soon after, 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 ...
(1932–1935), and then started to study lichens at the 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 1935 to 1936. He returned to teaching in Malang until 1940, when he was transferred to a Government school at present-day
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.
In 1942, Groehnhart was imprisoned in an
internment camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
, where he stayed until his release in 1945. After returning to the Netherlands, he continued his studies of lichens, becoming especially interested in the genus '' Cryptothecia''.
Species named in his honor include '' Ocellularia groenhartii'' (Hale 1975), '' Cryptothecia groenhartii'' (Makhija & Patw. 1994), and '' Rinodina groenhartii'' (H.Mayrhofer 1984).
List of mycologists
This is a non-exhaustive list of mycologists, or scientists with a specialisation in mycology, with their author abbreviations. Because the study of lichens is traditionally considered a branch of mycology, lichenologists are included in this lis ...