Franz Petrak

{{Short description|Austrian-Czech mycologist (1886–1973)}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Franz Petrak

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1886|10|09}}

| birth_place = Mährisch-Weißkirchen, Austria

| death_date = {{death date and age|1973|10|09|1886|10|09}}

| death_place = Vienna, Austria

| fields = Botany, Mycology

| alma_mater = University of Vienna

| doctoral_advisor =

| doctoral_students =

| known_for =

| author_abbrev_bot = Petr.

| author_abbrev_zoo =

| footnotes =

| signature =

}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://indexcoll.botanischestaatssammlung.de/ic-fun-p.htm |title=3.2. Pilz-Herbarien (P) Fungi P (Collectors Index Herbarium M) |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |language=de |accessdate=1 January 2025 }} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33189676#page/220/mode/1up |work=Biodiversity Heritage Library |title=Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications |publisher= |accessdate=22 December 2013 }}

He was the author of nearly 500 published works, primarily in the field of mycology.{{cite web |url=http://www.uni-graz.at/~scheuer/mycgener.html |first=Christian |last=Scheuer |publisher=University of Graz |title=Alphabetical Index to Mycotheca generalis |accessdate=22 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224110436/http://www.uni-graz.at/~scheuer/mycgener.html |archivedate=24 December 2013 }} Much of his mycological work was published in the journal Annales mycologici and its successor Sydowia. Reportedly, his private herbarium contained 100,000 specimens. Starting from 1908 until 1970 he edited altogether fourteen exsiccatae by distributing large sets of fungal and plant specimens.Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae. – Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany. Among them are the exsiccata-like series Fungi Eichleriani (Mycotheca Eichleriana) (1908–1912) which distributed material collected by Gustav Adolf Ferdinand Eichler and the exsiccata Cirsiotheca universa (1908–1927).{{Cite web |title=Fungi Eichleriani (Mycotheca Eichleriana): IndExs ExsiccataID=656029403 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=http://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=656029403 |access-date=31 December 2024}}{{Cite web |title=Cirsiotheca universa: IndExs ExsiccataID=1501551999 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=http://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=1501551999 |access-date=31 December 2024}}

As a taxonomist, he described numerous species within the genus Cirsium (family Asteraceae).{{cite web |url=http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do?find_authorAbbrev=Petr.&find_includePublicationAuthors=on&find_includePublicationAuthors=off&find_includeBasionymAuthors=on&find_includeBasionymAuthors=off&find_isAPNIRecord=on&find_isAPNIRecord=false&find_isGCIRecord=on&find_isGCIRecord=false&find_isIKRecord=on&find_isIKRecord=false&find_rankToReturn=all&output_format=normal&find_sortByFamily=on&find_sortByFamily=off&query_type=by_query |title=List of plants described and co-described by Petrak |publisher= |work=International Plant Names Index |accessdate=}} The mycological genera of; Petrakia {{Au|Syd. & P.Syd. 1913}} (family Pseudodidymellaceae), Petrakiella {{Au|Syd. 1924}} (Phyllachoraceae), Franzpetrakia {{Au|Thirum. & Pavgi 1957}} (Ustilaginaceae), Petrakiopeltis {{Au|Bat., A.F.Vital & Cif. 1958}} (Microthyriaceae), Petrakiopsis {{Au|Subram. & K.R.C.Reddy 1968}} (Ascomycota) and Petrakina (family Asterinaceae) have all been named in his honor, the latter genus being circumscribed by Raffaele Ciferri in 1932.{{cite book | last=Burkhardt | first=Lotte | title=Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen |trans-title=Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names | publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin | year=2022 | isbn=978-3-946292-41-8 | url=https://doi.org/10.3372/epolist2022|format=pdf |language=German |location=Berlin | doi=10.3372/epolist2022 |access-date=January 27, 2022}}

Franz Petrak died 9 October 1973 in Vienna.{{cite journal |url=http://www.landesmuseum.at/pdf_frei_remote/ANNA_81_0661-0664.pdf |title=Franz Petrak zum Gedenken |trans-title=Franz Petrak in Memoriam |language=de |journal=Ann. Naturhistor. Mus. Wien |location=Vienna|volume=81 |pages=661–664 |date=February 1978}}