Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution, 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22244662-06301002
Daniel Zohary: Naturalist, Geneticist, Evolutionist, and World Leader of Plant Domestication (1926–2016) Eviatar Nevo* Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel
Prologue When Danny approached 80 years the family made in 2005 Daniel Zohary, or Danny, as he was called by all, Professor a reunion, celebrating it in a trip to Africa (Fig. 2). Emeritus of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, was born Danny, was one of Israel’s greatest naturalists, bota- in Jerusalem, Israel, on 28 April, 1926. Danny married nists, plant geneticists, cytogeneticists, and evolutionists, Devora in 1949, and they had three children: Tamar, the as well as a world leader in plant evolution and domestica- ecologist, Rutie, the artist and Ehud, the neurophysiolo- tion. Danny devoted his life to understanding the biodiver- gist. Danny had six grandchildren and three great grand- sity of plants, their adaptive and speciation evolution, and children. Devora died of cancer in 1976. A few years later the intriguing process of plant domestication by humans, a Danny married Lilly with whom he lived in Jerusalem for process Darwin conceived as paralleling speciation. Daniel more than 35 years. The entire family celebrated his 90th Zohary’s pioneering impact on understanding plant genetic birthday on 28 April 2016. Danny died on 16 December and cytogenetic evolution, and agriculture origin through 2016, at the age of 90+, after several years of deteriorating plant domestication in the Old World was profound and health. Danny was the exemplary field naturalist (Fig. 1). insightful. As introduced by Barbara Pickersgil in 2003,
Figure 1. Danny Zohary in his beloved milieu, in a ripe field of Bulbous barley,Hordeum bulbosum.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017
Figure 2. Daniel Zohary family reunion in 2005, Kruger National Park, South Africa. From left to right: Daniel Be’ery (Tamar’s husband), Danny Zohary, Lilly Zohary, Tamar Zohary, Ehud Zohary, Rachel Zohary-Ben Eliyaho (Udi’s wife), Dorit Cohensius-Kent (Tamar’s oldest daughter), Ofer Souval (Rutie’s son), Rutie Shouval, Harel Shouval (Rutie’s husband). Front row: Udi’s three daughters, from left: Michal, Shira, Noga. Tamar’s son Gal Cohensius is missing.
Professor Daniel Zohary was “one of the most versatile other important books including Plant Life of Palestine economic botanists of our generation, as the Society for (1962), Flora Palaestina (1966), Geobotanical Foundations Economic Botany’s Distinguished Economic Botanist for of the Middle East (1973), Plants of the Bible (1982), and 2003”. His fourth edition book, the first three editions Vegetation of Israel and Adjacent Countries (1982). Daniel (1988, 1993, and 2000) were written with Maria Hopf, and Zohary developed his life-long interest in Israel and Near the fourth edition (2012) with Ehud Weiss, on “Domestica- East Flora starting in childhood, joining his father in natural tion of Plants in the Old World”, is a saga revealing his excursions observing, loving, and learning plants and their immense interdisciplinary knowledge and strategy. It in- ecological-genetic background. His naturalism embraced volved natural plant populations, plant evolution, genetics, both genetic input and environmental, cultural, compo- cytogenetics, systematics, speciation, adaptation, ecology, nents. I can still recall his excitement and enthusiasm when geology, prehistory, archeology, and domestication. This he showed me Aegilops bicornis in the western Negev, say- superb book culminates his versatile and productive scien- ing excitingly, “see how it resembles a little wheat”! tific creation and is a masterpiece of insight into the basis I first met Danny in 1946, near the Yarkon River while of human civilization by artificial human selection, a pro- exploring and tasting the Mediterranean saltbush, Atriplex cess mimicking speciation in nature, as first recognized by halimus, an excellent salt- and drought-tolerant plant. Dan- Darwin (1859, 1868). ny told me, there and then, a detailed story on this unique The publication of the fourth edition of Danny’s book plant, its distribution, adaptation, and agricultural utiliza- was celebrated in a special scientific meeting on 22nd tion, exposing his immense talented teaching potential, March 2012 in Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, organized by the implemented later extensively throughout his life with his Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Botanical Garden of many students. My next encounter with Danny was during the Hebrew University in Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, and the period 1949–1952, when we both joined, the Hemed Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture. Geological Army, headed by Professor Israel Dostrovsky of the Weizmann Institute, and directed geologically by Professor Yaacov Ben Tor and Dr. Akiva Vroman, and Biography and Personality logistically by Eliashiv Shaham. The project was to geo- Danny Zohary was a born naturalist. His father Professor logically map the entire Negev Desert from Be’er Sheva to Michael Zohary was a distinguished botanist and one of Eilat, on a scale of 1:100,000, based on the previous Brit- the founders of the Israeli scientific community. Together ish Mandate geological mapping of 1:500,000. That was with Alexander Eig, and Naomi Feinborn-Dothan, Michael an inspiring period, when, intermittently, diverse natural- Zohary laid the foundation of Israeli Botany, writing the ists, zoologists (Jacob Wharman, Amotz Zehavi, Eviatar first analytical flora book of Israeli plants, besides several Nevo), botanists (Daniel Zohary, Naftali Tadmor, and Yoel