KATHERINE ESAU - BIOGRAPHY

 

KATHERINE ESAU WAS BORN IN UKRAINE IN 1898. 

SHE STUDIED AGRICULTURE IN RUSSIA AND GERMANY AND RECEIVED HER DOCTORATE IN 1931 IN UNITED STATES. SHE REPORTED IN HER EARLY PUBLICATIONS THAT THE CURLY TOP VIRUS SPREADS THROUGH A PLANT VIA THE FOOD CONDUCTING OR PHLOEM TISSUE. DR. ESAU'S PLANT ANATOMY PUBLISHED IN 1954 TOOK A DYNAMIC , DEVELOPMENTAL APPROCH DESIGNED TO ENHANCE ONE'S UNDERSTANDING OF PLANT STRUCTURE AND AN ENORMOUS IMPACT WORLDWIDE, LITERALLY BRINGING ABOUT A REVIVAL OF THE DISCIPLINE. THE ANATOMY OF SEED PLANTS BY KATHERINE ESAU WAS PUBLISHED IN 1960. IT WAS REFERRED TO AS WEBSTER'S OF PLANT BIOLOGY - IT IS ENCYCLOPEDIAC.

IN 1957 SHE WAS ELECTED TO THE NATIONAL ACEDEMY OF SCIENCES , BECOMING THR

SIXTH WOMEN TO RECEIVE THAT HONOUR. IN ADDITION TO THIS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD,

SHE RECEIVE THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE FROM PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH IN 1989.

WHEN KATHERINE ESAU DIED IN THE YEAR 1997, PETER RAVEN , DIRECTOR OF ANATOMY AND MORPHOLOGY , MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN , REMEMBERED THET

SHE ' ABSOLUTELY DOMINATED ' THE FIELD OF PLANT BIOLOGY EVEN AT THE AGE OF 99.