Biography

German botanist. August Weberbauer devoted his life to the botanical exploration of Peru and the Andes. Born in Breslau, the son of mycologist Otto Weberbauer, he studied biology at the Universities of Berlin, Heidelberg and Breslau, the latter awarding him a doctorate in 1898. He arrived in Peru for the first time in 1901 and travelled around the country until 1905, sending his plant collections to the herbarium in Berlin-Dahlem. After two years in Cameroon, as director of the Botanical Gardens in Victoria (1906-1907), he returned to Peru in 1908 to take charge of the Botanical Gardens in Lima. In 1914, now in his early 40s, he resigned from the Garden to pursue more intensive research in the Peruvian Andes, supporting himself with short periods of employment for a mining company in the Province of Huaru and teaching posts at the Institute de Lima boys' school and the German school in Lima, named after Alexander von Humboldt. In 1922 he was awarded the chair in pharmaceutical botany at the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, which he held for ten years. He remained as head of department until his death on 16 January 1948. Throughout these later years, he made research expeditions in Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, supported by grants from the Field Museum of Natural History and other institutions. Besides his major work, Die Pflanzenwelt der Peruanischen Anden (1911), he published research on various aspects of the Andean vegetation, particularly morphological and plant distribution studies. In 1948 he received the Order El Sol del Peru, which is given by the Peruvian government for special achievements in Peru. The ceroid cactus genius Weberbauerocereus Backeb. is named in his honour.

Biography

German botanist. August Weberbauer devoted his life to the botanical exploration of Peru and the Andes. Born in Breslau, the son of mycologist Otto Weberbauer, he studied biology at the Universities of Berlin, Heidelberg and Breslau, the latter awarding him a doctorate in 1898. He arrived in Peru for the first time in 1901 and travelled around the country until 1905, sending his plant collections to the herbarium in Berlin-Dahlem. After two years in Cameroon, as director of the Botanical Gardens in Victoria (1906-1907), he returned to Peru in 1908 to take charge of the Botanical Gardens in Lima. In 1914, now in his early 40s, he resigned from the Garden to pursue more intensive research in the Peruvian Andes, supporting himself with short periods of employment for a mining company in the Province of Huaru and teaching posts at the Institute de Lima boys' school and the German school in Lima, named after Alexander von Humboldt. In 1922 he was awarded the chair in pharmaceutical botany at the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, which he held for ten years. He remained as head of department until his death on 16 January 1948. Throughout these later years, he made research expeditions in Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, supported by grants from the Field Museum of Natural History and other institutions. Besides his major work, Die Pflanzenwelt der Peruanischen Anden (1911), he published research on various aspects of the Andean vegetation, particularly morphological and plant distribution studies. In 1948 he received the Order El Sol del Peru, which is given by the Peruvian government for special achievements in Peru. The ceroid cactus genius Weberbauerocereus Backeb. is named in his honour.

Biography

German botanist. August Weberbauer devoted his life to the botanical exploration of Peru and the Andes. Born in Breslau, the son of mycologist Otto Weberbauer, he studied biology at the Universities of Berlin, Heidelberg and Breslau, the latter awarding him a doctorate in 1898. He arrived in Peru for the first time in 1901 and travelled around the country until 1905, sending his plant collections to the herbarium in Berlin-Dahlem. After two years in Cameroon, as director of the Botanical Gardens in Victoria (1906-1907), he returned to Peru in 1908 to take charge of the Botanical Gardens in Lima. In 1914, now in his early 40s, he resigned from the Garden to pursue more intensive research in the Peruvian Andes, supporting himself with short periods of employment for a mining company in the Province of Huaru and teaching posts at the Institute de Lima boys' school and the German school in Lima, named after Alexander von Humboldt. In 1922 he was awarded the chair in pharmaceutical botany at the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, which he held for ten years. He remained as head of department until his death on 16 January 1948. Throughout these later years, he made research expeditions in Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, supported by grants from the Field Museum of Natural History and other institutions. Besides his major work, Die Pflanzenwelt der Peruanischen Anden (1911), he published research on various aspects of the Andean vegetation, particularly morphological and plant distribution studies. In 1948 he received the Order El Sol del Peru, which is given by the Peruvian government for special achievements in Peru. The ceroid cactus genius Weberbauerocereus Backeb. is named in his honour.