Luís Wittnich Carrisso

Portuguese botanist and professor

Luís Wittnich Carrisso
Memorial to Luís Carrisso in the Jardim Botânico da Universidade de Coimbra
Born	14 February 1886 São Julião, Figueira da Foz
Died	6 June 1937(1937-06-06) (aged 51) Moçâmedes Desert, Angola
Occupation(s)	Botanist, professor

Luís Wittnich Carrisso (14 February 1886 – 14 June 1937) was a Portuguese botanist, professor at the University of Coimbra.

Carrisso was born in Figueira da Foz.^[1] He attended the Faculty of Philosophy of University of Coimbra (1904-1910). After graduating he became a student of botanist Julio Augusto Henriques.^[1] Carrisso took interest in evolution and heredity and presented his PhD thesis Hereditariedade in 1911. He published scientific work on ecology and plant systematics.^[1]

In 1918, he became Professor of Botany at University of Coimbra's Botanical Garden.^[1] He was a supporter of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution but was skeptical of the role of natural selection. He embraced mutationism.^[1]

He died on 6 June 1937 in the Namib desert (Moçâmedes), in Angola, of cardiac syncope, during his third botanical expedition to that country. A monument was erected at the site in his memory.^[2]

Eponymy

Carrissoa

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Sara Graca da Silva; Fatima Vieira; Jorge Bastos da Silva. (Dis)Entangling Darwin: Cross-disciplinary Reflections on the Man and His Legacy. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 105-110. ISBN 978-1443837323
^ Guimarães, Jorge. "Carrisso, Luís Wittnich, 1886-1937". Biblioteca Digital de Botânica. Retrieved 2 March 2021.