Biography

Karl Heinz Rechinger is recognised for his work on Flora Iranica and as the author of Flora Aegaea. His contributions to the knowledge of Balkan and south-west Asian botany in the 20th century were considered outstanding.

He was born in Vienna, the son of botanist Karl Rechinger (1867-1952), and served as head of the Department of Botany at the Vienna Naturhistorisches Museum for more than 25 years. He produced a great amount of taxonomic work and was a prolific plant collector. Festschriften were dedicated to him on the occasions of the 65th, 70th, 80th and 90th birthdays.

Rechinger's interest in plants was nurtured by his father, who was curator of the botany department at the Vienna Naturhistorisches Museum. Family holidays to the Alps introduced the young Rechinger to mountain flora. He was also inspired by the vegetation found on the plains east of Vienna, and while a pupil at the Schotten-Gymnasium made trips to Switzerland, Sweden and Czechoslovakia, taking the opportunity to observe the flora of these countries.

After studies in botany, geography and geology at the University of Vienna, in 1927 Rechinger undertook his first expedition, to Greece. He returned to the country many times during his life, his last visit taking place in 1980. His botanical findings there were published as the series "Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Flora der Ägäischen Inseln und Ost-Griechenlands" in the Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien, from 1929.

Offered a position as demonstrator in Vienna's Institute of Botany in 1928, Rechinger remained in this low-paid position for ten years. He then moved from to the Department of Botany at the Naturhistorisches Museum as a scientific assistant, and before long had taken over the responsibilities of the head of the department, Karl von Keissler, though he was only made a permanent employee in 1943. Officially appointed head of the department in 1950 (receiving a retroactive promotion dating to 1945), he remained in charge until 1971.

Early in his time at the museum Rechinger undertook two significant expeditions, in 1937 to Iran and in 1942 to Crete, then occupied by the German Wehrmacht. He then embarked on his magnum opus, Flora Aegaea (1944), meanwhile serving as a clerk as part of the war effort. A supplement to the flora, Phytogeographica Aegaea, appeared in 1953, and served as Rechinger's 'habilitation paper', permitting him to teach at the University of Vienna.

The Second World War was a turbulent period for the museum, whose collections were evacuated, though the building was in fact left unscathed by bombing in 1944 and 1945. Rechinger oversaw the return of the botanical collections from Lunz am See to Vienna in 1945-1946.

Rechinger travelled to Iran again in 1948, the second of nine expeditions he made to the country. He also explored parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan on these journeys, collecting copious material for the Vienna Naturhistorisches Museum.

in 1956 Rechinger agreed to work on founding a herbarium at the University of Baghdad, and while in Iraq took the opportunity to collect plants. These provided the basis for his Flora of Lowland Iraq (1964).

In 1961 Rechinger was made Director of the Naturhistorisches Museum, and in the following years battled for the museum to be recognised by the government as a scientific research institution rather than primarily an educational establishment. He still found time to undertake expeditions to the Near East, and embarked on a comprehensive flora of the highlands of South West Asia, the first fascicle of which was published in 1962. The project was still underway when he retired in 1971.

In his retirement, Rechinger continued to work at his desk in the museum, in particular producing monographic studies of Salix and Rumex, and writing and editing Flora Iranica treatments. He made a final expedition to Iran in 1977. He also collected in Western Australia in 1982, Indonesia in 1985, Chile in 1987 and Sri Lanka in 1990. Rechinger also collected reptiles on his travels, including two species named in his honour, Elaphe rechingeri and Eirenis rechingeri.

Rechinger was married twice, to Frida and Wilhelmina. He had two children with Wilhelmina, who accompanied him on all his travels after 1952 and assisted him with his work. Since his youth, he had been a pianist, and continued this hobby into his old age, though he eventually lost his hearing.

Rechinger lived to see the final fascicle of his Flora of Iranica published in 1998. He died on 30 December that year, aged 92. Many honours were accorded to him during his lifetime. He was a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Halle Academy of Natural History Research, and of the scientific academies of Sweden and Slovenia. He was awarded the Hammer Purgstall Gold Medal, the Linnean Silver Medal, the Willdenow Medal, the OPTIMA Gold Medal and an honorary doctorate from the University of Lund. He was also awarded the Homajum Order Third Class by the shah of Iran.

Sources:
H.W. Lack, 1999, "Karl Heinz Rechinger (1906-1998)", Taxon, 48(2): 419-426
H.W. Lack, 1987, "Karl Heinz Rechinger - a Grand Old Man in botany", Plant Systematics and Evolution, 155(1-4): 7-14
H.W. Lack, 2000, "Karl Heinz Rechinger - a life for botany", Flora Mediterranea, 10:: 11-64
J. Renz, 1987, "K.H. Rechinger - a life devoted to botany", Plant Systematics and Evolution, 155(1-4): 3-5.