Biography

German (Silesian) botanist and teacher interested in the Pyrenomycetes (fungi). Theodor Nitschke was born in the German city of Breslau, which is now part of Poland and known as Wrocłow. He was educated there and received his PhD in 1858. Moving to Münster in 1860 he taught botany and was named professor of botany at the University of Münster in 1867. Nitschke was also the director of the Münster Botanical Academy and Botanic Garden. He died in this same city after a long and severe illness. In his earlier years Nitschke studied flowering plant genera such as Rosa L., Hieracium L. and the species Drosera rotundifolia L., particularly focusing on its anatomy and physiology. From the late 1860s he focused his attention on fungi and produced several works on the Pyrenomycetes, most famously Pyrenomycetes germanici (1867-1870). Three fungi genera were named in his honour: Acanthonitschkea Spegazzini, Nitschkia Otth. ex P.A. Karsten and Nitschkiopsis J.A.Mannfeldt and R. Santesson, as well as a number of species.

Sources:
A. Kanitz, 1883, "Halálozások", Magyar Novénytani Lapok, 7: 158-159
F.A. Stafleu and R.S. Cowan, 1976-1998, Taxonomic Literature, 2nd edition (TL-2).