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Eva Schönbeck-Temesy (August 16, 1930 – August 27, 2011) was an Austrian botanist of Hungarian descent who made notable contributions to
Karl Heinz Rechinger Karl Heinz Rechinger (16 October 1906, Vienna – 30 December 1998, Vienna) was an Austrian botanist and phytogeographer. Life Karl Heinz Rechinger was born in Vienna on 16 October 1906. He was the son of Dr Karl Rechinger, then assistant at ...
's magisterial Flora Iranica.


Life and career

The fourth daughter of General Stefan Temesy and Ludovika Temesy née Messek, she was born in
Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...
, the most important city in northwestern
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. She attended elementary school and afterwards (1940–44) ''Szent Margit Leánygimnázium'' (St. Margaret's School for Girls) in
Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...
in central Hungary. In the turmoil of the invasion of Hungary by the Red Army, the Temesy family left the country and settled in the Styrian capital
Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
in eastern Austria, where the young Eva resumed her secondary education at BRG II for Girls in 1946 - from which she graduated with distinction in 1949. In the same year, she enrolled at the
University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...
to study botany. Her doctoral thesis, entitled ''The Polytypic Species '' Saxifraga stellaris'' Linné'' , which she wrote under the guidance of Professor Felix Joseph Widder, earned her in 1954 the degree of Ph.D. ''
Sub auspiciis Praesidentis (Latin for ''Doctoral graduation under the Augury, auspices of the President of Austria, Federal President''), often abbreviated as doctoral graduation (German language, German: ), is a special form of doctoral graduation and the highest possib ...
'' - the highest honour which may be bestowed by the Austrian University system. On July 9, 1956 she married the zoologist Horst Schönbeck (1929–2009) by whom she had three children: Susanne (1957-), Stefan (1959-) and Pippa (1961-). Up until 1964, the young Schönbeck-Temesy family lived in the municipality of
Judendorf-Straßengel Judendorf-Straßengel () is a former municipality in the district of Graz-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Gratwein-Straßengel. Geography The town is loca ...
, in the district of
Graz-Umgebung Bezirk Graz-Umgebung (, lit. ''Graz Surroundings'') is a district of the state of Styria in Austria. It forms a continuous ring around Graz, the capital city of Styria and also the seat of the district commission. Since the 2015 Styria municipal ...
. There then followed a work-related move to
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. From January 1, 1965 to December 1, 1970 Schönbeck-Temesy worked on a research fellowship and then up until March 30, 1973 on an ''Arbeitsauftrag'' in the botany department of the
Natural History Museum, Vienna The Natural History Museum Vienna () is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museums and non-university research institutions in Austria and an important center of excellence for all matt ...
under the Directorship of Professor Karl Heinz Rechinger. On March 1, 1974 she became Keeper of the museum's
Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, 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 sh ...
- a post in which she remained until her retirement in April 1993. Schönbeck-Temesy benefitted greatly, during her academic career, from her
polyglotism Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monoling ...
: in addition to her mother tongues of Hungarian and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
she was also fluent in English, French,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
, and
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
. A true ''Grande Dame'' of the world of botany, she is commemorated in the name of the rubiaceous plant '' Galium schoenbeck-temesyae''
Ehrend. Friedrich Ehrendorfer (26 July 1927 – 28 November 2023) was an Austrian botanist who was professor emeritus of plant systematics at the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna. He was an honorary member of the America ...
Dr. Schönbeck-Temesy's eldest daughter, Dr. Susanne Grass-Schönbeck, is maintaining the family tradition of scientific excellence, albeit in the unrelated field of
pulmonology Pulmonology (, , from Latin ''pulmō, -ōnis'' "lung" and the Greek suffix "study of"), pneumology (, built on Greek πνεύμων "lung") or pneumonology () is a medical specialty that deals with diseases involving the respiratory tract. ...
.


Publications and verifications

Schönbeck-Temesy authored several volumes of the Flora Iranica and verified a number of plant species. Of the Flora Iranica she authored volume 19 and 20 on the
Hydrangeaceae Hydrangeaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Cornales, with a wide distribution in Asia and North America, and locally in southeastern Europe. Description The genera are characterised by leaves in opposite pairs (rarely whorled or ...
and
Parnassiaceae Parnassiaceae Gray were a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Celastrales.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: Ontario, Canada. (2007). ...
, volumes 23 to 33 on the
Acanthaceae Acanthaceae () is a Family (biology), family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are Tropics, tropical Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epip ...
,
Aquifoliaceae ''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen or ...
,
Aristolochiaceae The Aristolochiaceae () are a family, the birthwort family, of flowering plants with seven genera and about 400 known species belonging to the order Piperales. The type genus is '' Aristolochia'' L. Description They are mostly perennial, her ...
,
Buxaceae The Buxaceae are a small family of six genera and about 123 known species of flowering plants. They are shrubs and small trees, with a cosmopolitan distribution. A seventh genus, sometimes accepted in the past (''Notobuxus''), has been shown by ...
,
Ceratophyllaceae Ceratophyllaceae is a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants including one living genus commonly found in ponds, marshes, and quiet streams in tropical and in temperate regions. It is the only extant family in the order Ceratophyllales. Species ...
,
Datiscaceae The Datiscaceae are a family of dicotyledonous plants, containing two species of the genus ''Datisca''. Two other genera, ''Octomeles'' and ''Tetrameles'', are now classified in the family Tetramelaceae. Datiscaceae are large herbaceous plants, ...
,
Ebenaceae The Ebenaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to order Ericales. The family includes ebony and persimmon among about 768 species of trees and shrubs. It is distributed across the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It i ...
, Hippuridaceae,
Myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...
and
Nymphaeaceae Nymphaeaceae () is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate climate, temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains five genera with about 70 know ...
. Subsequently she authored volume 42 on the
Saxifragaceae Saxifragaceae is a family of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous Perennial plant, perennial flowering plants, within the core eudicot Order (biology), order Saxifragales. The Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of the family has been greatly revised and the ...
, volume 47 on the
Grossulariaceae ''Ribes'' () is a genus of about 200 known species of flowering plants, most of them native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The species may be known as various kinds of currants, such as redcurrants, blackcurrants, and whi ...
, volume 69 on the
Geraniaceae Geraniaceae is a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus '' Geranium''. The family includes both the genus '' Geranium'' (the cranesbills, or true geraniums) and the garden plants call ...
and volume 100 on the
Solanaceae Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...
. In the course of her
botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
work she identified, classified and verified plants. Several plant species have also been named after her.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schonbeck-Temesy, Eva 1930 births 2011 deaths Austrian women botanists 20th-century Austrian botanists Hungarian emigrants to Austria People from Győr