Rolf Singer
{{Short description|German mycologist (1906–1994)}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Rolf Singer
| image = Rolf Singer2.png
| caption = Rolf Singer in 1945.
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1906|06|23}}
| birth_place = Schliersee, German Empire
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|01|18|1906|06|23}}
| death_place = Chicago, Illinois
| nationality = German
| fields = Mycology
| workplaces =
| alma_mater = University of Vienna (PhD, 1931)
| thesis_year = 1931
| known_for = Taxonomy of gilled mushrooms
}}
Rolf Singer (June 23, 1906 – January 18, 1994) was a German mycologist and taxonomist of gilled mushrooms (agarics).
He wrote the book "The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy". He fled to various countries during the Nazi period, pursuing mycology in the Soviet Union, Argentina, and finally the United States, as mycologist at the Field Museum in Chicago.
Career
After receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Vienna in 1931 he worked in Munich. By 1933, however, Singer left Germany for Vienna due to the political deterioration in Germany.{{cite journal |last=Muller |first=Gregory |year=1995 |title=Mycologia JOURNAL ARTICLE - Rolf Singer, 1906-1994 |journal=Mycologia |publisher=Taylor & Francis, Ltd. |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=144–147 |doi=10.1080/00275514.1995.12026514 |jstor=3760958 |editor=Taylor & Francis}} There he met his wife, Martha Singer. From Vienna, Singer and his wife went to Barcelona, Spain, where Singer was appointed assistant professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Persecution by the Spanish authorities on behalf of the German government forced Singer to leave Spain for France in 1934. After a fellowship at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, Singer again moved, this time to Leningrad, where he was senior scientific expert at the Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. During his time at the academy, Singer made many expeditions to Siberia, the Altai Mountains, and Karelia. In 1941, Singer emigrated to the United States. He was offered a position at Harvard University's Farlow Herbarium as a research associate, then as Assistant Curator, then as acting Curator following the death of Dr. David Linder. He spent a total of seven years at the Farlow. During this time, Singer also received a Guggenheim Fellowship for studies in Florida, and taught at the Mountain Lake Biological Station of the University of Virginia.
In 1948, Singer left Harvard to become professor at the Universidad Nacional de Tucuman in Argentina. Later, in 1961, Singer became professor at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. During his time in South America, Singer, his wife, and his daughter Heidi collected extensively. Singer's last faculty appointment was at the University of Illinois at Chicago, from 1968 to 1977.
Singer was an author (or co-author) of new fungal species, having formally described 2260 in his career.{{cite journal |authorlink=Robert Lücking |last=Lücking |first=Robert |title=Three challenges to contemporaneous taxonomy from a licheno-mycological perspective |journal=Megataxa |volume=1 |issue=1 |year=2020 |doi=10.11646/megataxa.1.1.16 |pages=78–103 [85]}} He was also a prolific writer, with more than 400 publications to his name.
Honours
He has been honoured in the naming of several taxa of fungi.{{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 | s2cid=246307410 |access-date=January 27, 2022}} Including; Singeriella {{Au|Petr.}} in 1959 (in Vizellaceae family),{{cite web |title=Singeriella peruviana Petr. - GSD Species |url=http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/GSDSpecies.asp?RecordID=305961 |website=www.speciesfungorum.org |publisher=Species Fungorum |access-date=26 October 2022}} Singera {{Au|Bat. & J.L.Bezerra}} 1960 (Vermiculariopsiellaceae family),{{cite web |title=Singera esenbeckiae Bat. & J.L. Bezerra, - GSD Species |url=http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/GSDSpecies.asp?RecordID=339293 |website=www.speciesfungorum.org |publisher=Species Fungorum |access-date=26 October 2022}} Mesosingeria {{Au|S.Archang. 1963}} (Fossil, order Cycadales),{{Cite journal|last=Archangelsky|first=Sergio|date=1963|title=A new Mesozoic flora from Ticó, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.|journal=Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology|volume=8|issue=2|pages=45–62|doi=10.5962/p.313876|doi-access=free}} Singeromyces {{Au|M.M.Mosera, 1966}} (in the family Boletaceae),{{cite web |title=Species Fungorum - GSD Species |url=http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/GSDSpecies.asp?RecordID=339294 |website=www.speciesfungorum.org |access-date=26 October 2022}}
Singerina {{Au|Sathe & S.D.Deshp. 1981}} (in the family Agaricaceae),{{cite book |vauthors=Sathe AV, Deshpande S, Kulkarni SM, Daniel J |title=Agaricales (Mushrooms) of South-west India - Part I: Agaricales (Mushrooms) of Maharashtra State |year=1980 |publisher=Maharashtra Association for the Cultivation of Science |location=Pune, India |page=35}} and lastly, Singerocomus {{Au|T.W.Henkel & M.E.Sm. 2016}} (Boletaceae family).{{cite web |title=Singerocomus - Search Page |url=http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/Names.asp?strGenus=Singerocomus |website=www.speciesfungorum.org |publisher=Species Fungorum |access-date=26 October 2022}}
{{botanist|Singer|Singer, Rolf}}
Further reading
- The Agaricales in modern taxonomy by Rolf Singer (Koeltz Scientific Books, )
- A monograph on the genus Leucopaxillus Boursier by Rolf Singer (University of Michigan Press], 1943)
- Mycoflora Australis. by Rolf Singer(J.Cramer, 1969)
- Omphalinae (Clitocybeae-Tricholomataceae Basidiomycetes). by Rolf Singer (Published for Organization of Flora Neotropica by Hafner Pub. Co., 1970)
- The Boletineae of Mexico and Central America III by Rolf Singer (J. Cramer, 1991)
- The Boletineae of Mexico and Central America by Rolf Singer (J. Cramer, 1990)
- The Agaricales in modern taxonomy by Rolf Singer (Koeltz Scientific Books, 1986)
- The ectotrophically mycorrhizal fungi of the neotropical lowlands, especially Central Amazonia by Rolf Singer (J. Cramer, 1983)
- Hydropus (Basidiomycetes, Tricholomataceae, Myceneae) by Rolf Singer(New York Botanical Garden, 1982)
- Omphalinae (Clitocybeae-Tricholomataceae Basidiomycetes). by Rolf Singer (Published for Organization for Flora Neotropica by Hafner Pub. Co., 1970)
- Strobilomycetaceae (Basidiomycetes). by Rolf Singer (Published for Organization for Flora Neotropica by Hafner Pub. Co., 1970)
- The Boletineae of Florida by Rolf Singer (J. Cramer, 1977)
- Marasmieae (Basidiomycetes-Tricholomataceae) by Rolf Singer (Published for Organization for Flora Neotropica by the New York Botanical Garden, 1976)
- The genera Marasmiellus, Crepidotus and Simocybe in the neotropics by Rolf Singer (Cramer, 1973)
- A monograph of Favolaschia by Rolf Singer (Cramer, 1974)
- The Agaricales in modern taxonomy by Rolf Singer (J. Cramer, 1975)
- Phaeocollybia (Cortinariaceae-Basidiomycetes). by Rolf Singer (Published for Organization for Flora Neotropica by Hafner Pub. Co., 1970)
- Mycoflora Australis. by Rolf Singer (Cramer, 1969)
- Die Röhrlinge. by Rolf Singer (J. Klinkhardt, 1965)
References
{{Reflist}}
Other sources
- {{cite journal|last=Mueller|first= Gregory M.|title=Rolf Singer, 1906-1994|journal= Mycologia|volume= 87|number=1|year=1995|pages=144–147|jstor=3760958|doi= 10.1080/00275514.1995.12026514}}
- {{cite journal|last=Singer|first= Martha|title= Glancing Back|journal=Sydowia; Annales Mycologici, Beihefte|volume= 8|year=1979|pages= 14–25}}
- Singer, Rolf. "Curriculum Vitae"
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Category:University of Vienna alumni
Category:University of Virginia faculty
Category:Harvard University people
Category:Academic staff of the University of Buenos Aires
Category:University of Illinois Chicago faculty
Category:20th-century German botanists
Category:People from Miesbach (district)
Category:Expatriates in Austria