Harry van Bruggen
Heinrich Wilhelm Eduard (Harry) van Bruggen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 6 December 1927 Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
| Died | 8 February 2010 (aged 82) Amersfoort, The Netherlands |
| Citizenship | Dutch |
| Known for | studies on Aponogeton |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Plant taxonomy |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | H.Bruggen |
Heinrich (Harry) Wilhelm Eduard van Bruggen (December 6, 1927 in Amsterdam – February 8, 2010 in Amersfoort) was a Dutch amateur botanist.
Personal life[edit]
After finishing secondary school, van Bruggen became an accountant, first in his uncle's company, later with Koninklijke Hoogovens, where he became the head of the Administration.[1] In 1950 he married Anna Blom, with whom he had a son; she died in 1996.[2] In April 2000 he remarried with Liesbeth Bakker.[1] Van Bruggen was interested in nature already at a very young age, in particular in animals and plants in and around water.[1] He sowed his first plants when he was 5-years old: Tagetes.[2] This led to his lifelong interest in botany, particularly water and marsh plants and orchids.[2] Van Bruggen was an active member of the "Dutch Waterplant Society", for which he did the administration during many years.[3]
Contributions to botany[edit]
In the late fifties, van Bruggen obtained from an aquarium-plant importer an Aponogeton species which he failed to be able to name using the existing literature. He concluded that it was a new species, unknown to science, and with the help of Hendrik de Wit he described the new species as Aponogeton rigidifolius H. Bruggen.[4] In subsequent years he published a revision of the genus Aponogeton in several parts (organised geographically), culminating in his magnum opus, a complete monograph of this genus,[5] which was well received in professional circles.[6] In total, van Bruggen described 13 new Aponogeton species.[1] For health reasons, van Bruggen never travelled to the tropics himself, but based his studies on observations from others and both living and dried (herbarium) materials sent to him.[7]
Two Aponogeton species were named after van Bruggen: A. vanbruggenii C. B. Hellquist & S. W. L. Jacobs (Australia) and A. bruggenii S. R. Yadav & R. S. Govekar (India).[2] In addition, one orchid subspecies, Ophrys holosericea (N.L. Burman) Greuter subsp. vanbruggeniana J. & L. Essink & Kreutz, was named after him, commemorating van Bruggen's lifelong interest in this family.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d John Juijn (March 2010). "Harry van Bruggen overleden". WAP Krant (164): 6–7.
- ^ a b c d Josef Bogner (2007). "Harry W.E. van Bruggen, 80 Jahre". Aqua Planta. 32 (4): 143–145.
- ^ John Juijn (November 2007). "Harry van Bruggen 80 jaar". WAP Krant (152): 10–12.
- ^ van Bruggen, H. W. E. (1962). "Aponogeton rigidifolius H. Bruggen sp. nov". Meded. Bot. Tuinen Belmonte Arb. Wageningen. 6: 91.
- ^ van Bruggen, H. W. E. (1985). "Monograph of the genus Aponogeton (Aponogetonaceae)". Bibliotheca Botanica. 33 (137). E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung: i–viii, 1–76. ISBN 978-3-510-48008-1.
- ^ Schmid, Rudolf; Frans A. Stafleu (May 1987). "Reviews and notices of publications". Taxon. 36 (2): 528–550. doi:10.2307/1221466. JSTOR 1221467.
- ^ Bogner, Josef (2010). "Harry W.E. van Bruggen, 6. Dezember 1927 - 8. Februar 2010". Aqua Planta. 35 (2): 55.
- ^ Essink, J.; Essink, L.; Kreutz, C.A.J. (2010). "Ophrys holosericea (N.L. Burman) Greuter subsp. vanbruggeniana J. & L. Essink & Kreutz". Berichte aus den Arbeitskreisen Heimische Orchideen. 27 (2): 219–222.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. H.Bruggen.
