Biography

Argentine botanist from Buenos Aires. Hicken was an accomplished teacher and plant collector and set up a well-respected botanical centre in Buenos Aires. He began his studies in the Colegio del Salvador and continued them in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), where he graduated as a surveyor in 1898 and became a doctor of Natural Sciences in 1906. Here he developed a good relationship with his professor, the German botanist E.L. Holmberg, under whose influence he turned from engineering to the field of botany. Hicken's first major work was dedicated to Holmberg and he named Hippeastrum holbergii Hicken after him in 1903. Hicken began to teach all aspects of physical and natural sciences and had a prolific career as lecturer in a number of Argentinean institutions; between 1904 and 1911 he taught as a physics professor at what is now the Agronomic Faculty of the UBA; between 1900 and 1932 he was a teacher in the field of Natural Sciences in the National College of Buenos Aires (1900-1906), the School of Professors (1904-1906), the College Normal Superior (1907-1912) and the Faculty of Natural Sciences at UBA (1909-1932). In 1906 he was designated inspector of secondary school education for the Ministry of Public Instruction and in 1924 and 1931 was director of geographical studies for the Estado Mayor del Ejército Argentina.

Hicken's primary subject of interest was always botany, within which he focused on the family Polypodiaceae, although he was also extremely knowledgeable in the fields of Mineralogy and Geology. His collection trips took him from Tierra del Fuego to Argentina's northern border and well beyond, collecting in all the countries of southern South America and in Panama, Cuba, the United States of America and Canada. However, his most important achievement was the founding of the Instituto de Botánico Darwinion at Villa Progreso in the area of San Martín (greater Buenos Aires) in 1911. The library here housed 15,000 botanical volumes and its herbarium 150,000 specimens, representing 5,000 distinct species, the vast majority of which were collected personally by Hicken. The institution published a journal Darwiniana which has been the premier journal for publications on the flora of Argentina and of which Hicken was author, proprietor and director. In the early 1930's he organised the beginnings of the building of a new site in Barrio Parque Aguirre in San Isidro, but died shortly after arranging the move. After his death the publication Hickenia was also created by the institute, which focuses on the publication of brief articles on new botanical discoveries, usually with descriptions of new species. Personally Hicken published over 70 works, the most important of which are "Holmberg y las doctrinas evolucionistas" (1915) "Estudios Botanicos" (1922) and a major work on the ferns of Argentina. He was responsible for naming some 350 new species and the Municipal School of Gardening in Buenos Aires now bares his name. Hicken tragically died at the age of 58 while working in the field in the Sierras Pampeanas, Mar del Plata.

Biography

Argentine botanist from Buenos Aires. Hicken was an accomplished teacher and plant collector and set up a well-respected botanical centre in Buenos Aires. He began his studies in the Colegio del Salvador and continued them in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), where he graduated as a surveyor in 1898 and became a doctor of Natural Sciences in 1906. Here he developed a good relationship with his professor, the German botanist E.L. Holmberg, under whose influence he turned from engineering to the field of botany. Hicken's first major work was dedicated to Holmberg and he named Hippeastrum holbergii Hicken after him in 1903. Hicken began to teach all aspects of physical and natural sciences and had a prolific career as lecturer in a number of Argentinean institutions; between 1904 and 1911 he taught as a physics professor at what is now the Agronomic Faculty of the UBA; between 1900 and 1932 he was a teacher in the field of Natural Sciences in the National College of Buenos Aires (1900-1906), the School of Professors (1904-1906), the College Normal Superior (1907-1912) and the Faculty of Natural Sciences at UBA (1909-1932). In 1906 he was designated inspector of secondary school education for the Ministry of Public Instruction and in 1924 and 1931 was director of geographical studies for the Estado Mayor del Ejército Argentina.

Hicken's primary subject of interest was always botany, within which he focused on the family Polypodiaceae, although he was also extremely knowledgeable in the fields of Mineralogy and Geology. His collection trips took him from Tierra del Fuego to Argentina's northern border and well beyond, collecting in all the countries of southern South America and in Panama, Cuba, the United States of America and Canada. However, his most important achievement was the founding of the Instituto de Botánico Darwinion at Villa Progreso in the area of San Martín (greater Buenos Aires) in 1911. The library here housed 15,000 botanical volumes and its herbarium 150,000 specimens, representing 5,000 distinct species, the vast majority of which were collected personally by Hicken. The institution published a journal Darwiniana which has been the premier journal for publications on the flora of Argentina and of which Hicken was author, proprietor and director. In the early 1930's he organised the beginnings of the building of a new site in Barrio Parque Aguirre in San Isidro, but died shortly after arranging the move. After his death the publication Hickenia was also created by the institute, which focuses on the publication of brief articles on new botanical discoveries, usually with descriptions of new species. Personally Hicken published over 70 works, the most important of which are "Holmberg y las doctrinas evolucionistas" (1915) "Estudios Botanicos" (1922) and a major work on the ferns of Argentina. He was responsible for naming some 350 new species and the Municipal School of Gardening in Buenos Aires now bares his name. Hicken tragically died at the age of 58 while working in the field in the Sierras Pampeanas, Mar del Plata.