Franz Petrak

Franz Petrak
Born (1886-10-09)October 9, 1886
Mährisch-Weißkirchen
Died October 9, 1973(1973-10-09) (aged 87)
Vienna
Fields Botany, Mycology
Alma mater University of Vienna
Author abbrev. (botany) Petr.

Franz Petrak (9 October 1886, Mährisch-Weißkirchen – 9 October 1973, Vienna) was an Austrian-Czech mycologist.

From 1906 to 1910, he studied botany at the University of Vienna, where he was a student of Richard Wettstein. In 1913 he obtained his doctorate of sciences, and until 1916, worked as a high school teacher in Vienna. During World War I, he was stationed in Galicia and Albania, where he collected specimens in his spare time.[1] From 1918 to 1938, he worked as a private scientist in his home town, and from 1938 to 1951, was associated with the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna.[2]

He was the author of nearly 500 published works, primarily in the field of mycology.[3] Much of his mycological work was published in the journal Annales mycologici and its successor Sydowia. Reportedly, his private herbarium contained 100,000 specimens.[2]

As a taxonomist, he described numerous species within the genus Cirsium (family Asteraceae).[4] The mycological genera Petrakiella, Petrakiopeltis and Petrakina are named in his honor, the latter genus being circumscribed by Raffaele Ciferri in 1932.[2]

Franz Petrak died 9 October 1973 in Vienna.[5]

Selected works

See also

References

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