Helmut Becker

{{Short description|German viticulturist (1927–1990)}} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = | name =

| image = Helmut Becker 1990.jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = March 9th, 1927 | birth_place = Germany | death_date = July 19th, 1990 | death_place = | citizenship =  | nationality =  | fields = | workplaces = | patrons = | education = doctorate | alma_mater = University of Mainz | thesis_title = The Biology of Phylloxera | thesis_url =  | thesis_year =  | doctoral_advisor =  | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | awards = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | footnotes = }} '''Helmut Becker''' ({{IPA|de|ˈhɛlmuːt ˈbɛkɐ}}; 8 March 1927 – 19 July 1990) was a German viticulturist and was chief of the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute.<ref>Lon Rombough, ''The Grape Grower: A Guide to Organic Viticulture'' Chelsea Green Publishing, 2002, {{ISBN|9781603580823}}, p. 175</ref><ref>Andrew G Reynolds, ''Grapevine Breeding Programs for the Wine Industry: Traditional and Molecular Techniques'' Elsevier, 2015, {{ISBN|9781782420804}}, p. 92 ff</ref>

He received his doctorate from the University of Mainz; the topic of his thesis was the biology of phylloxera.<ref name="Wein.plus">{{cite web |title=Becker Helmut |url=https://glossary.wein.plus/becker-helmut |website=Wein.Plus |access-date=17 June 2024}}</ref> As a successor of Heinrich Birk, he viewed viticulture from a global perspective and promoted the globalization of a quality wine industry. Dr. Becker collaborated with numerous scientists around the world and encouraged the importation of important clones and varieties in New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Japan and other countries. He did early important work in Neustadt/Weinstrasse during the 1950s and 1960s in the European phylloxera eradication program.

Some of the grape varieties bred by Helmut Becker at the Research Institute Geisenheim:

==See also== *German wine *List of wine personalities

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *Robinson, Jancis (Ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to Wine''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, second edition, 1999.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Helmut}} Category:1927 births Category:1990 deaths Category:German viticulturists Category:Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:People from the Rheingau Category:University of Mainz alumni