Julius Oscar Brefeld

{{Short description|German botanist and mycologist}} {{redirect|Bref.|the TV series|Bref}} right|thumb|Oscar Brefeld (1839-1925) '''Julius Oscar Brefeld''' (19 August 1839 – 12 January 1925), usually just '''Oscar Brefeld''',<ref name=MJ>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mushroomthejournal.com/greatlakesdata/Authors/Brefeld671.html|title=Julius Oscar Brefeld|accessdate=29 November 2011|publisher=mushroomthejournal.com}}</ref> was a German botanist and mycologist.

==Biography== Brefeld was a native of Telgte. He studied pharmacy in Heidelberg and Berlin, and afterwards served as an assistant to Anton de Bary (1831-1888) at the University of Halle. In 1878 he became a lecturer of botany at the Eberswalde Forestry Academy at Eberswalde, and in 1882 was a professor of botany at the University of Münster, as well as manager of its botanical gardens. In 1898 he succeeded Ferdinand Cohn (1828-1898) as professor at the University of Breslau. In 1898 Brefeld was stricken by glaucoma, and subsequently became totally blind. His eye problems caused him to retire from the university in 1909.

Brefeld was a prolific author of works in the field of mycology, being remembered for his writings on the heteroecious nature of fungal rusts and smuts. He pioneered culture techniques in the growth of fungi (using gelatin as a solid media),<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UUorj_O2dcsC&q=%22Oscar%20Brefeld%22%201839&pg=PA71 Google Books] An Introduction To Mycology by R. S. Mehrotra, K. R. Aneja</ref> and in doing so, was able to study the life histories and systematic relationships of different groups of fungi.<ref name=BB>[https://books.google.com/books?id=an6r8m0JfV8C&q=Brefeld%20Bary%20sexuality&pg=PA221 One Hundred and One Botanists by Duane Isely] (biography)</ref> He is credited with providing nomenclature for a number of genera and species of fungi. The names ''Conidiobolus'', ''Heterobasidion'', ''Oligoporus'' and ''Polysphondylium'' (genus of slime mold) are a few of genera that he described.<ref name=MJ/> He is remembered for his disagreements with Anton de Bary in regards to the nature of yeasts as well as to the sexual nature of fungi (Brefeld maintained that higher fungi were devoid of sexuality).<ref name=BB/>

The genus ''Brefeldia'' from the family Amaurochaetaceae, was named after him in 1873.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

Every two years, the ''Deutschen Gesellschaft für Mykologie'' offers the "Oscar-Brefeld-Preis" to young scientists for work in the field of mycology.<ref>[https://www.uni-muenster.de/forschung/programme/preise/PreiseOscarBrefeld.html Universität Münster] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506062234/http://www.uni-muenster.de/forschung/programme/preise/PreiseOscarBrefeld.html |date=2013-05-06 }} Oscar-Brefeld-Preis</ref>

== Selected writings == * 1981 - 1881: ''Botanische Untersuchungen über Schimmelpilze'' (Botanical investigations into molds). * 1874: ''Botanische Untersuchungen über Schimmelpilze: Die Entwicklungsgeschichte von Penicillium''; (Botanical studies on mold: The history of penicillium). * 1877: ''Botanische Untersuchungen über Schimmelpilze: Basidiomyceten'', (Botanical studies on mold: Basidiomycetes). * 1881: ''Botanische Untersuchungen über Hefenpilze: Die Brandpilze'', (Botanical studies of yeast fungi: The Rusts). * 1883: ''Botanische Untersuchungen über Hefenpilze''. (Botanical studies of yeast fungi). * 1884 - 1912: ''Untersuchungen aus dem Gesammtgebiete der Mykologie'' (Examinations from the field of mycology) - 15 volumes. * 1888: ''Untersuchungen aus dem Gesammtgebiete der Mykologie: Basidiomyceten II: Protobasidiomyceten Studies'' (Research of the field of mycology: Basidiomycetes II: Protobasidiomycetes). * 1889: ''Untersuchungen aus dem Gesammtgebiete der Mykologie: Basidiomyceten III: Autobasidiomyceten und die Begründung des natürlichen Systemes der Pilze'' - (Studies from the field of mycology: Basidiomycetes III: Autobasidiomycetes and the foundation of a natural taxonomic system of the mushroom). * 1895: ''Untersuchungen aus dem Gesammtgebiete der Mykologie: Hemibasidii: Brnadpilze III'' (Studies from the field of mycology: Hemibasidii: - Rusts III). * 1895: ''Untersuchungen aus dem Gesammtgebiete der Mykologie: Die Brandpilze II'' (Studies from the field of mycology: The Rusts II). * 1905: ''Untersuchungen aus dem Gesammtgebiete der Mykologie: Brandpilze (Hemibasidii) IV'' (Studies from the field of mycology: The Rusts (Hemibasidii IV). * 1912: ''Untersuchungen aus dem Gesammtgebiete der Mykologie: Die Brandpilze V'' (Studies from the field of mycology: The Rusts V).

==Notes== {{reflist}}

== References == * This article incorporates text based on a translation of articles at the German and French Wikipedia.

== External links == * {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Brefeld, Oskar|year=1905 |short=x}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brefeld, Julius Oscar}} Category:German mycologists Category:19th-century German botanists Category:1839 births Category:1925 deaths Category:Academic staff of the University of Münster Category:Academic staff of the University of Breslau Category:German blind people Category:German scientists with disabilities Category:Academic staff of the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development Category:Blind scholars and academics