Biography

Venezuelan botanist and expert in local grasses, particularly Poaceae of the of the Distrito Federal. Luces de Febres worked for the Ministerio de Agricultura y Cria. She spent over five years as a student of Henri Pittier, who supported her and developed her scientific interests. She was also influenced by the American agrostologist Mary Agnes Chase, with whom she was in close communication. In 1940 Chase surveyed Venezuela's grasses and advised the government on establishing a botanical program, recommending Luces de Febres to head it, and inviting her to train for the position at the U.S. National Museum. Luces de Febres spent a year living in Washington, during which time she felt that Chase was like a mother to her. When she returned to Venezuela she began to work on a monograph entitled Generos de los Gramineas Venezuelas which was published in 1942, and in 1960 she produced a Spanish translation of the First Book of Grasses by Mary Chase. From its beginning in 1965 she was on the editorial committee for Acta Botánica Venezuela (the Journal of the Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela Dr Tobias Lasser). This ended in 1979 but she would later return to the same publication, becoming president of the Junta Directiva between 1994 and 1999.